argentdandelion

[argentdandelion]

My latest post is now available on Pillowfort.

#DC Cartoons #Cartoons #Teen Titans #Teen Titans (Cartoon) #Teen Titans (Show) #Meta #Analysis #Musical Analysis

[argentdandelion]

The Complexity of Anger (Parts 1 and 2)

Part 1 and Part 2 of the three-part "The Complexity of Anger" series is now available. It is an analysis of the cultural counter-messaging on anger in the show Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

Part 1: Decreasing Razer's Anger Didn't Make Him Flourish

Part 2: So What Helped Razer?

#Link Post #Links to Pillowfort #Text Post #Meta Post #Razer #Razer (Green Lantern: The Animated Series) #Razer (GLTAS) #Anger #GLTAS #Green Lantern: The Animated Series

[argentdandelion]

Week of October 8, 2023 Meta Post Poll

Option Explanations:

An Ace Lens in a Video Game: Asexuality, (as understood mainly through the memoir How to be Ace and Ace by Angela Chan) applied as an interpretive lens for one piece of children’s media

Monstrosity-As-Metaphor-Mess-Up: A mishandled message of monstrosity-as-metaphor, relating to trauma and frightening behavior/appearances

The Complexity of Anger: A review of character growth on the value and role of anger, drawing from the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Oops, Prejudiced Subtext: Accidental prejudicial subtext in a fantasy series because of the centering of particular looks, cultures and ways-of-being above those of marginalized groups.

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This is a copy of a poll originally linked to on Pillowfort (log in only).The resulting post will be posted onto Pillowfort. If you'd like to read it and other Pillowfort exclusives, you can register on Pillowfort for free.

#Polls #Meta #Analysis

[argentdandelion]

Cassette Beasts: The Intimate Role of Fusion (Post Series)

I made a post series analyzing Cassette Beasts on Pillowfort. I even provided a bonus section with prompts inspired by my analysis.

It's for logged-in users only, so make sure to log in first.

Don't have a Pillowfort account? You can sign up for free on a rolling waitlist, or get a free invitation code from me now.

#Cassette Beasts #Video Games #Indie Games #Meta #Link Post #Pillowfort Exclusives

[argentdandelion]

Pillowfort Exclusive: Overview of Meredith

On Pillowfort, I've made a convenient summary of Meredith from Cassette Beasts, based on her level-up dialogue at the Gramophone Cafe.

I'm trying to phase out my Tumblr use in favor of Pillowfort, because Pillowfort is better-built for connection and community.

#Cassette Beasts #Meredith (Cassette Beasts) #Meredith Chen #Video Games #Pillowfort Exclusive #Indie Games #Meta #Character Analysis #Link Post

[argentdandelion]

Pillowfort Premiere: “Can You Make OMORI Rated T?” (Abstract and Part 1)

Read on Pillowfort for the Abstract and Part 1.

Abstract Preview:

You can make OMORI rated T (if perhaps only narrowly) while preserving virtually all of its original experience…but you shouldn’t, because making OMORI available for people as young as 13 could have very bad effects because of the particulars of its most frightening yet crucial elements.

Link to Abstract.

Part 1 Preview:

And so I wondered: what if this game could be adapted for someone younger, like a somewhat more easily-frightened younger version of myself? I decided to figure out how it could be done.

And after more than 15957 words (35 pages) of thoroughly-crafted notes, drafts, numbered bullet-point frameworks and multiple spin-off documents, I can say adapting OMORI to a Teen rating is, in fact, possible, if barely. The particulars of this, however, are quite surprising.

Link to Part 1.

#OMORI #Meta #Pillowfort Premiere #Analysis #Reviews

[argentdandelion]

OMORI Prompts (April Fools' Day)

Selected for maximum funniness with the least morbid humor.

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Kel says Hero is learning “bedroom eyes” in school. Hero quickly corrects him: it’s “bedside manner”.

Someone tries to “suck the venom out” when someone else is stung on the lips. They end up sucking like a vacuum cleaner and are embarrassed to say the venom was really tasty.

Sunny wants leg hair. (According to the artbook, “everything Sunny wants, Kel has”.)’

Mr. Jawsum eats sushi. He responds to an accusation of cannibalism by saying, “that’s business, kid.”

Sunny memorizes the first lines of the Bible (in Japanese) just to intimidate people.

Sunny concludes God (of the Bible) is evil because he forbade Adam and Eve from eating apples, and rants about the health benefits and happiness associated with apples.

Spirit Mari gently calls Sunny a freak because of his newfound obsession with eating apples (in an emo way).

Sunny’s last name is not Suzuki, but “Sizzletwister”.

(Based on the idea the Headspace outfits are all pajamas): in the final battle, Omori is wearing an animal onesie as pajamas.

On one reset, Omori's pajamas are just…sleeping in the nude. (This is the shortest Headspace cycle.)

(Mildly Dirty) Hero needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night at Basil’s house. Still only half-awake, he shows up at the Basil and Sunny fight and chastises them with “Safe, sane and consensual, guys.” 

#OMORI #Kel #Kel (OMORI) #Hero #Hero (OMORI) #Sunny #Sunny (OMORI) #Mr. Jawsum #Mari #Mari (OMORI) #Omori (OMORI) #Omori (Character) #Humorous #Humor #Prompts

[argentdandelion]

What Should I Post Next? (January 22, 2022)

What Should I Post Next? (January 22, 2022) 

MFKZ Review: Macho Identity The way Machos and Macho hybrids are characterized within the work, and how Macho hybrids think of their status as such, leans into an Always Chaotic Evil-esque characterization which, beyond being unbelievable as a general rule, doesn’t make sense within the movie’s own universe.

All Just a Dream vs. No Reflection: Infinity Train's Season 1 so strongly resembles The Wizard of Oz through a sci-fi lens and modern setting that it can be considered basically a sci-fi version of the Wizard of Oz, but superior.

Adventure Time Obsidian Review: The missed opportunities and dissatisfying implications of how inner and outer 'monstrousness' are treated in the episode "Obsidian" of Adventure Time: Distant Lands.

#Text Post #MFKZ #Mutafukaz #Infinity Train #The Wizard of Oz #Adventure Time #Adventure Time: Distant Lands #Polls

[argentdandelion]

Pillowfort Premiere

After a long absence, I’ve finally made another article-post: a review of the book Force of Fire. 

Preview:

The villainous snake-folk, which parallel British colonialists in India, are bad for believing there is only one right way to be, and systematically enforcing their ways upon their subjects. The rakshasha (rakosh) and humans, meanwhile, resist them, both through violent confrontations and continuing to clandestinely disobey the Snakefolk’s laws and continue to perpetuate their own cultures.

Overall, Force of Fire has a message of supporting cultural diversity, rather than having colonized people adhere to the supposedly superior ways of dominant groups. It clearly supports keeping and celebrating one’s culture, heritage, and distinct identity in the face of colonialist cultural derogation, if not outright erasure. However, this message was inadvertently undermined by the narrative predominance of the more humanlike rakshasha (or “rakosh”) characters. [

Read more on Pillowfort.

#Text Post #Pillowfort Post Preview #Force of Fire #Kingdom Beyond Series

[argentdandelion]

I don't normally post reblogged content on my main blog, but I'll make another exception once more, since my reblog-blog evidently has very little visibility. Perhaps, if things go well enough, I won't need to make any more exceptions.

Hey just a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, is Election day in the United States, so if you haven’t voted yet and you’re a citizen of the U.S., it’s about time to check on what’s going on in your state, county, and city, and go ahead and vote.

Also, as a person who has worked as an election worker at some different polling locations, just want to remind you that even if you haven’t registered yet, some states offer same day voter registration. Not sure that you’re eligible to vote? Totally okay, the election judges (the volunteers working the polls) will help you, sometimes via a provisional ballot (however this does vary from state to state, please make sure that you are checking for what applies to where you live).

Additionally, in some cities, they allow everyone 16 and up to vote in the city elections (here’s an article i found that actually named the cities and explained why they’re doing it). I would highly recommend voting if you’re not yet 18 but fall into that 16+ category and the option is available to you.

Tuesday, November 8th. Voting time everyone, let’s go.

#Self-Reblog #Text Post #Politics #U.S. Politics #U.S. Midterms #Election Day #Voting #Same Day Voter Registration

[argentdandelion]

I usually keep my original posts on my original-posts blog and my reblogs on my reblog-blog, but I'll make an exception now.

Hey, so elections across all the states are coming up fast, so this is your friendly, tired, and somewhat desperate reminder to make sure you are registered and have a way to vote.

Check your state website for voting information, and see if you can confirm that you’re registered. If you’re not sure or are having trouble navigating the webpages, you can always go or call into your local town hall or secretary of state, and they should be able to help you. It’s also not a bad idea to familiarize yourself with candidates, proposals, and the ballot overall, if possible.

I know transportation and accessibility can be an issue. (for example, my polling place has us go up a flight of stairs to the room where they hold it.) If any of these things are the case, contact a friend or family member that could help you out. Otherwise, there will be poll workers or volunteers there, and there’s nothing wrong with asking for their help, too. They’ll also be eager to answer your questions and help with the process!

If you’re away from your polling place or have to work at the time of your election, an absentee ballot will be the way to go. Make sure to request them ahead of time, though, or it might not reach you or be available.

I know laws around voting are changing as of late in a lot of states, so try to be aware of your rights, deadlines, and locations. These should be available on your state’s voting webpage.

Voting might seem stressful, pointless, or complicated, but I firmly believe the future of our country pivots on how these next few election cycles go. Educate or at least familiarize yourself with the issues at hand, and who might support or reflect some of your beliefs. Pick the lesser evil, if you must. But staying silent and abstaining from voting will only hurt all of us.

You might care about politics, and I get that. But I’m asking you to care, even if it’s only for a short while. Please, make an educated vote.

#Text Post #U.S. Politics #Politics #Midterms #Election Day

[argentdandelion]

Absence

There's no need to worry about my lack of updates for weeks. In case any of you are wondering, I am safe and well. I have simply been very busy lately, and do not anticipate having time to write article-posts for a while.

#Personal Updates

[argentdandelion]

Pillowfort-Exclusive Poll Post

Are you interested in what I’ll post next?

The poll is here on Pillowfort!

There’s no anonymous posting option, but you can always send me a message directly on your vote, or ask me for an invitation link to Pillowfort. I have plenty.

#What Should I Post Next?

[argentdandelion]

Exactly Why The Wizard of Oz’s Dream Twist Was So Bad

Introduction & Thesis

The Wizard of Oz (1939), while a classic fantasy work foundational to the portal fantasy genre, has a crushing flaw in the form of its twist: Dorothy’s journey was all a dream. This twist makes Dorothy’s entire time in Oz pointless and has almost narcissistic undertones. The “lesson” she learns over the course of the dream is not something that required an adventure at all: she could have gained it with a few hours of contemplation and a reputable self-help book.

Dreams Have No Consequences

Portraying Dorothy’s time in Oz in a dream makes all the stressful things she has experienced, and all the choices she has made (minimal as they were; she is largely passive in Oz) simply meaningless because they were inconsequential. Moreover, the fact her journey was specifically a dream just worsens how inconsequential it was and makes extracting any meaning from it weaker and less believable.

For comparison, consider the alternative of Dorothy’ journey in Oz just being her playing through a video game. When people play video games, they often have agency on the course of events in a game, or at least the order, speed, and style they use to explore its world and meet their goals. A video game also often requires skill (e.g., organized button pressing, memorizing elemental types to maximize damage in RPGs), and so victory is achieved by one’s own conscious effort, and rarely by happenstance. Furthermore, while a dream is a singular experience created from an unconscious jumble of brain activity that usually makes little if any sense and quickly fades away, a video game is something millions of people can experience and appreciate firsthand. Its characters may not be real, but they can be loved, and visited repeatedly, and people may bond with others over a love for the characters.

Dream Characters Don’t Matter

The premise of Dorothy’s journey being a dream re-contextualizes all the people she has met and cared for, and who cared for her in turn, as not real. Of all the ways her companions could have been portrayed as not real, this is the worst: as dream characters, they don’t in any way exist independently of Dorothy, and they exist in some rudimentary, transient state for only a few hours of Dorothy’s life, at that. In contrast, had Dorothy’s companions been, for example, robots, self-aware illusions, or AIs within a virtual world, then at least they would have existed beyond Dorothy, continued to exist after Dorothy’s journey, and so would have had the potential for a purpose beyond helping Dorothy.

The meaningless of Dorothy’s experience as a mere dream is further worsened by the movie introducing three farmhand characters who were clearly remixed into her companions: not only were her companions not real, but they weren’t even original.  In sum, her traveling companions were, at best, mere tools her troubled semi-conscious self generated, all for the apparent purpose of learning the lesson “there’s no place like home”, and it is only by happenstance that her companions appear to be coherent, likable, and believable people.

Self-Centered Premise

The idea of Oz-as-a-dream overemphasizes Dorothy’s importance to Oz to a narcissistic-seeming degree. Dorothy is not simply an especially important, perhaps super-powerful or prophesized protagonist. Rather, the entire world of Oz does revolve around Dorothy, in the sense her semiconscious mind not only created it with ease, but continually generates it, and it cannot be separated from Dorothy herself. By not existing outside of Dorothy’s dreaming mind, Oz appears to exist specifically for the protagonist, the only real, important person within it, to learn “lessons” of some sort.

It’s worth comparing The Wizard of Oz (1939) to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005), which has a somewhat similar starting premise, dream elements, and portal fantasy genre. The protagonist, Max, created an entire dreamworld-planet and all its inhabitants by bringing his dreams to life via de facto reality warping superpowers, but understandably others initially doubt his dreamworld is real. However, the planet and its people do exist independently of Max’s dreams and Max himself, and can make their own decisions. This is made especially clear in the film’s climax, where one of the other planet’s villains wreaks havoc in the “real world” in a way that is clear to everyone.

Conclusion

The Wizard of Oz was one of the foundational works of the portal fantasy subgenre: while the movie was based on a book which had been followed by many sequels, the movie has much eclipsed the book it was based on in fame. Many portal fantasy works for the big and small screen have followed in the 83 years since The Wizard of Oz’s release: a few examples from the U.S. alone include Labyrinth (1986), Barbie in The Nutcracker (2001), the DC Nation programming block shorts Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (2013), the shows Infinity Train (especially its first season, 2019), and Amphibia (2019-2022). By making it clear that that the protagonists’ journeys weren’t mere dreams, delusions, or all pretend, these stories grant the characters agency, and significance to their actions and the worlds of their journeys. The Wizard of Oz (1939) was an excellent work for its time, and fondly remembered today, but its major flaw is best left in the past.

#The Wizard of Oz #Worldbuilding #Meta #Analysis #Nonfiction #Trope Analysis #Movies #Classic Movies #Portal Fantasy #Bad Writing #Dreamworlds #Originally Posted on Pillowfort

[argentdandelion]

Spikemuth Economic Revival

In response to Epicspheal, concerning Spikemuth’s economy.

Spikemuth may be able to diversify its economy beyond Piers’ Gym and concerts by the development of renewable energy and high-value specialty horticultured products. Minor tourism increases and manufacture of electronics are also options.

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Renewable Energy City

Given Spikemuth has a small, densely-built, partly-enclosed population, it would be relatively easy to reconfigure it into a model environmentally-friendly city, if perhaps only at the pilot scale.

It seems Spikemuth is based on Llanduno, Wales. If true, then it may have significant wind power potential, as Llandudno is a prospective wind power development site. In real life, the offshore wind farm off Llandudno was resisted due to its anticipated effect on reducing the natural beauty of the landscape, thus affecting the tourism industry. Spikemuth, however, doesn't seem to have a tourism industry to protect. Notably, other than the power generation in Hammerlocke (probably based on Galar particles: it's not specified in-game), Galar doesn't seem to have any power plants. Hammerlocke's power plant might be facing bad public relations since the Eternatus incident, so if Spikemuth loaned out land in Outer Spikemuth (Route 9 next to Spikemuth) to wind power development, it would be a tremendous opportunity to diversify Galar's energy production.

Spikemuth's houses are all very close together, so upgrading its electrical transmission would require fewer materials. On the other hand, they are crammed so close together that there's less operating space, so homes might need substantial drilling or remodeling to install new cables, if the internal systems need upgrading.

Spikemuth's dense population, limited walking space, and crowd of people attending Piers' concerts could also make it useful for pilot studies of piezoelectric panels, like the Watt Nightclub in the Netherlands. Whether this would be viable as anything but a mildly tourist-attracting novelty depends on the Pokemon world's technology. Most likely, it would be a supplemental source of energy to keep the lights on if there's a problem with the wind turbines for a few days (barring excellent energy storage), or simply to emphasize Spikemuth as an town of renewable energy.

Specialty Agriculture

The fact the whole city is enclosed could also make it potentially useful for growing flowers sensitive to cold temperatures, although the market for this would be limited and subject to competition from better-prepared areas. To optimize this use, Spikemuth's roof would also have to be replaced with glass, or some other transparent material. Perhaps a more valuable and distinctive product is taking advantage of Spikemuth's dim environment to grow high-value blanched vegetables, such as white asparagus, and blanched cardoon, endive, leeks, and sea kale. Spikemuth's enclosed, dim, controlled conditions could be useful for growing mushrooms, and the existence of mushrooms as a camping ingredient suggests there's some market for it. Paras's tochukaso is evidently very valuable, and Paras tend to live in low-light environments or caves, so if Spikemuth can import Paras, it could cultivate tochukaso.

Minor Uses

Spikemuth is built as if it was originally a massive warehouse: it has thick walls around it and a roof. Theoretically, it could be retrofitted into a small indoor city: a novelty in the winter. Alternatively, the stabler weather conditions inside the city itself could provide plenty of room to create electronics sensitive to dust or fluctuations in temperature. They would have clean rooms, of course, and decotamination foyers, but the enclosure of the city itself could provide an additional layer of protecton.

Combination:

Spikemuth could, of course, reconfigure itself into a renewable power town using wind power and piezoelectric paneling, and then use that energy to optimize its specialty agriculture, or perhaps to rapidly dry, freeze, or package products for shipping. Circhester, one of the closest towns, might particularly appreciate fresh vegetables: Circhester is so cold it’s apparently covered in perpetual snow, which would limit the types of vegetables it can grow and how effectively it can grow them.

#Pokemon #Meta #Analysis #Pokemon Worldbuilding #Pokemon Economy #Pokemon World Economy #Galar Region #Spikemuth #Pokemon Sword & Shield #Agriculture #Horticulture

[argentdandelion]

So You Want to Buy a Togepi: Estimated Minimum Import Costs for Pokémon

In this article, you’ll learn how the following relate to buying a Togepi: • The price of a used 2001 Honda Civic in 2005 • The legality of buying Pokémon and legal loopholes • Shipping cost per mile between Japan and Baja California • How much it costs to import rice crackers from Japan into Manhattan • Swedish tax rate income deductions • How much an 11-year-old is paid to throw 2.6 pounds • Recommended percentage of income for discretionary spending • The average wage of a construction worker in the U.S. in 2005 • Unexpectedly athletic obese people

Introduction

But, somewhere along the line in this story, someone probably bought a Togepi.

And how much did that someone pay?

Caveats

The following will assume there are not dedicated breeding operations for Pokémon for export to Orre, and will not be considering monetary inflation in the Pokémon world. These are all rough calculations.

Some Trainers probably too young for a job have Togepi. These can be presumed to be gifts, or a suggestion that the labor cost of obtaining Togepi is lower than calculated. As it is impossible for the player to breed a Pokémon in Pokémon XD, it is unclear whether there are breeding operations in Orre.

Base Labor Cost

The price of chucking six Pyukumuku back into the ocean is 20,000 P2, or, logically, ~3,333 P per Pyukumuku. Notably, one also has to find them, not just chuck them, so there's a search cost involved.

Pyukumuku weighs 2.6 pounds. A baseball, which will be used as a proxy for a Poke Ball, weighs about 5 ounces. There are 41.6 ounces in 2.6 pounds, so it would be, very roughly, 8.32 times harder to throw a Pyukumuku into the ocean than to throw a Poke Ball the same distance. So the labor cost of finding a Pokémon and throwing a single Poke Ball is, at minimum, roughly 401 P (or 400.6 P not rounded up) which converts to $3.14. The material cost of a single Poke Ball is 200 P ($1.56), so the total minimum capture cost would be roughly 601 P, or $4.70.

But, if all one is doing is throwing, not battling, one would want a stronger Poke Ball: an Ultra Ball, for example. That's 1,200 P in Johto and Kanto (outside of Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee), so the equivalent of $9.39.

Therefore, the minimum cost of obtaining a Togepi from the wild would be about 601 P ($4.70) if using one Poke Ball with a lucky shot, or to 1,601 P ($12.53) if using an Ultra Ball.

Cost Checking

With the exception of the Magikarp salesman, who’s a con artist, it is not generally legal to buy Pokémon directly. It is, however, possible to buy coins at Game Corners and use those coins to buy Pokémon. The coin conversation value is 50 coins per 1000 P, so 1 Coin is Worth 20 Pokédollars. Pokédollars are based on yen. Therefore, the coin cost of Pokémon sold indirectly through Game Corners can provide a rough proxy of the market prices.

Celadon Game Corner Prizes (as of Generation III Abra = 180 C (3,600 P/$28.18) Clefairy = 500 C (10,000 P/$78.27) Dratini = 2800 C (56,000 P, $438.31) Scyther = 5500 C (110,000 P, $860.97) Porygon = 9999 C (199,980 P, $1,565.24) Note: they're all different levels, which makes it hard to figure out their prices if they were equivalent levels.

These prices make sense, as they correspond to the Pokémon being increasingly hard to find and catch.

Abra: Found in two routes; encounter rate of 15%; hard to catch because it uses Teleport, although multiple strategies can reduce this risk or eliminate it entirely. It's possible to combine Ultra Balls with other trapping strategies, so it's not that hard to catch if one's prepared. Clefairy: Found only in Mt. Moon; low encounter rate of 1-6%. Unlike Abra, it doesn't require unusual techniques, though it is harder to find. Dratini: Only in the Safari Zone, can't be legitimately obtained by battling; can't use Ultra Balls; low encounter rate (15%), high base flee rate (35%). Scyther: Only in the Safari Zone, can't be legitimately obtained by battling; can't use Ultra Balls; low encounter rate (4%); high base flee rate (45%). limited number of steps allowed in the Safari Zone. Sweet Scent is a workaround against the step count, but they still have to go through quite a lot of non-target Pokémon first. Porygon: an artificial species that doesn't exist in the wild and can only breed with Ditto. Its exclusivity likely explains its high price.

Market Cost of a Togepi

Eevee is a suitable proxy for a Togepi: throughout most of the games, it is only possible to get an Eevee as a gift or trade, making Eevee similar to Togepi in how it can be obtained. An Eevee, which is worth 6,666 C, is worth 133,320 Pokédollars. If Pokédollars are equivalent to yen, the yen value of an Eevee converts to 1,043.57 US dollars as of May 20, 2022.

If using the price of an Eevee as a proxy for a Togepi, a Togepi is worth 133,320 P, or 221.8 times the minimum cost of just catching it. This surely attests to its rarity and high demand.

Criminal Surcharge

It’s likely selling Pokémon is illegal or frowned upon. The strongest evidence for this is the fact that, in the games, Team Rocket's focus is stealing or catching strong or rare species of Pokémon to sell. In Red & Blue and its remakes, the Celadon City casino is secretly run by Team Rocket, suggesting an association of some sort between selling Pokémon as casino prizes and criminal activity. The Celadon Game Corner could very well be a front for selling Pokémon Team Rocket has stolen or captured. Of all the Game Corners which can be visited, only the ones in Goldenrod City and Celadon City in Johto and Kanto, respectively, allow the sale of Pokémon by means of coins, which may imply selling Pokémon is not universally legal. Furthermore, even if selling Pokémon indirectly is legal, it may be frowned upon: the citizens of the Celadon Game Corner also think the casino is bad for the city’s image, and it’s possible the casino’s sale of Pokémon is part of this complaint.

To determine the different prices between legal and illegal Pokémon-derived things, it it is useful to consider Slowpoke Tails. A Slowpoke Tail from Johto, where it is only sold by Team Rocket, costs 9,800 P, while the camp cooking ingredient Smoke-Poke Tail in Galar is 2,200 P, which is surprisingly inexpensive, particularly since Slowpoke is not native to Galar's populated core. Slowpoke Tails are apparently not even a rare and expensive delicacy, at least not universally: in Alola, simmered Slowpoke tails are sold in convenience stores. Notwithstanding the food processing to smoke Slowpoke tails, we can presume selling something illegally makes something cost about 4.45 times more.

So what if a Togepi, or some other Pokémon, can only be imported by dubiously legal means? Assuming a 4.45x crime multiplier to the base Game Corner price for an Eevee (proxy for a Togepi), the price of a Togepi would be 593,274 P, or $4643.8865.

Shipping Cost

Lava Cookies (a local specialty made only in Lavaridge Town, Hoenn) cost P 1000 (7.76 US Dollars) in Unova, and only 200 P (1.55 US Dollars) in Hoenn, so the cost in Unova is five times greater than the original cost. This part of Unova, Nimbasa City, is based on Midtown Manhattan, according to the Pokémon world in relation to the real world article on Bulbapedia. Lavaridge is based on Taketa City in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. Using a quick Google check, the distance between these two locations is 7,087 miles.

The difference between 1000 and 200 is 800. 800/7087= ~0.11 P per mile. Distance between San Felipe (proxy for Gateon Port) and Chiba City (proxy for Vermilion City) is 5,742 miles, which is actually shorter than the estimated distance between Lavaridge Town and Nimbasa City. 0.11 * 5,742 miles = 631.62 P, or an extra cost equivalent to...$4.90.

What about Five Island Meadow, which has a Team Rocket headquarters with Pokémon in cages? Mukojima Islands (proxy for Five Island Meadow, with the Team Rocket warehouse) to San Felipe is 5,943 miles away, and so has a cost of 653.73 P, or $5.08. Unless purchasing Pokémon illegally is cheaper, it would actually be less expensive to order it from Vermillion City. These calculations do not consider shipping costs within the region itself from warehouses to ports because it is likely extremely low: the Pokémon world has technology allowing one to trade across vast distances within the same region, or deposit a Pokémon in one computer and take it out from another computer.

Total Calculation

If selling a Togepi is legal, the base and shipping cost of importing a Togepi would be 133,952 (rounding up) P, or the equivalent of $1,038.9. If selling a Togepi is not legal, and furthermore it must be sourced from Five Island Meadow to better hide the transaction, then it would cost 593,927.73 P, or $4,645.87.

For comparison, 9,999,999 Pokédollars is the maximum amount of money that can be held in the Orre region games, so the player could theoretically pay for importing a Togepi.

Affordability

Let’s assume, based on cursory financial advice from N263, that the payout from Trainers is no greater than 30% of their hourly wage. There are likely many exceptions to this, but this will work as a rough calculation.

For a more fine-grained approach of how easily people can afford a variety of Pokémon, one would use the 2005 data for Arizona construction workers, scientists, average pay for a secretary in Phoenix, Arizona, and the mayor of Phoenix. These correspond to the Worker and Cipher R&D Trainer classes, Cipher Peon Exinn (pretending to be the secretary of Trest, mayor of Phenac City, which corresponds to Phoenix, Arizona), and Mayor Es Cade/Evice, who was the former mayor of Phenac City.

However, for the sake of concision, we’ll use construction workers as a baseline for affordability of importing Pokémon, since construction workers are generally not paid as much as, say, mayors, secretaries and scientists. Using the national employment and wage data of the U.S. in 2005, the mean (average) hourly wages for a construction worker in national data in 2005 is $18.39. In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, there's one Trainer of the Worker Trainer class who's dressed as a construction worker and has specific prize money information. Worker Dobit's prize payout in the second match with him is 1,000 P, equivalent to $7.82 USD. Apparently, he's paid more than the national US averages for construction workers in 20054; 30% of that would be ~5.517 (or $5.52 in real money). We can assume he’s paid the equivalent of about $26.06 an hour: substantially greater than the average in real-world equivalent data, and greater than the 75th percentile in real-world equivalent data.

Worker Dobit’s yearly wages (assuming no tax) would be: $46,240.00. The minimum import cost of a legal Togepi is $1,038.9, or about ~2.25% of Worker Dobit’s income. or comparison, consider a large purchase a person of significant income but frugal preferences is likely to buy: a used car. A reasonable proxy is the price of a used Honda Civic (2001) in 2005: the Honda Civic model is considered safe, affordable, reliable, and long-lasting, so it would appeal to someone of frugal preferences. The average price of a used Honda Civic (2001) in 2005 was $16,226.34, of 34.1% of Worker Dobit’s yearly wages.5 In comparison, a Togepi is 6.40% of the price of the Honda Civic.

But what about Worker Dobit’s living expenses? People save money to buy and maintain things like cars, homes, college funds and educational debt, and medical savings and medical debt. However, the Pokémon world seems very affordable compared to equivalent real-life locations, with a few oddities, such as the ludicrous price of a bicycle in Kanto. One should note, though, that people very rarely own cars in the Pokémon world, and when they do, they’re very rarely actually used, suggesting low fuel, maintenance, and insurance costs. Homes also seem affordable, as there’s only a few depictions of people who are likely homeless, and the only two unambiguous cases occur in unusual circumstances.6 With the possible exception of elderly people (as some use canes), it seems there’s virtually no physical disability in the games’ depiction of the Pokémon world: even the people of excess weight (whether they are overweight or obese is hard to tell in the art style) do not seem significantly physically impaired, despite the near-absence of mobility aids. Research on Bulbapedia has not revealed any information about college in the Pokémon world being difficult to afford.

One may wonder how the Pokémon world can afford such a utopia. Most likely, the labor of Pokémon makes life easier and more affordable, but let’s assume Swedish tax rates, just to make things a little more realistic. Worker Dobit’s income is $46.240.00 a year, which converts to to 454,705.66 Swedish kroma. (rounding up to 454,706) Using the calculator from Investomatica7 and using the calculator’s default municipality tax rate of Sweden (Stockholm), Worker Dobit’s income after tax would be 323,347 kr, or $32,873.01. Under Swedish tax rate conditions, importing a Togepi has a minimum price of 3.16% of Worker Dobit’s income. However, given the lack of public amenities (e.g., public transit, schools) in Orre, the tax rate may very well be lower than this.

It may be that when people in Orre import Pokémon, the Pokémon are regarded as one might regard a car, as a means of self-expression, societal expectations, and achieving greater convenience or participation in society (i.e., in car-dominant communities). Most Pokémon, however, would be much cheaper to obtain than a Togepi, with a tiny fraction of the cost of a relatively inexpensive used car.

On the whole, it seems plausible even someone in Orre working in a low-paying job could import several Pokémon, even expensive ones.

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Hordel ↩︎

https://www.polygon.com/2016/8/23/12608544/pokemon-sun-and-moon-pyukumuku-throwing ↩︎

https://n26.com/en-eu/blog/50-30-20-rule ↩︎

https://www.bls.gov/oes/bulletin_2005.pdf ↩︎

https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/car/heres-much-car-today-would-cost-year-were-born/ ↩︎

Namely, there's Emma and Blaine in Generation II. In Generation IV, his situation was apparently retconned to losing only his Gym in the volcanic eruption, not becoming homeless. ↩︎

https://investomatica.com/income-tax-calculator/sweden ↩︎

#Pokémon #Pokemon #Meta #Nonfiction #Analysis #Pokémon Worldbuilding #Orre Region #Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness #Pokémon World Economy

[argentdandelion]

The World Breaks for Bagheera: Fantasy Segregation in The Jungle Book (1967)

Thesis/Introduction

The Jungle Book’s plot can be summarized as thus: “An infant left alone in the jungle, Mowgli, is adopted and raised by wolves. Ten years later, the tiger Shere Khan, who fears and hates humans for their fire and guns, learns of Mowgli’s existence. Shere Khan and intends to kill him and anyone who protects him before Mowgli can grow up to be a threat to him. The stern, practical panther Bagheera and the carefree bear Baloo protect Mowgli on his long and hazardous journey to the nearest human village, the only place he will be safe from Shere Khan.” Although the primary reason for this journey to the “Man Village” is keeping Mowgli safe without putting anyone else in danger, Bagheera provides one other, two-pronged justification: he believes Mowgli would be happier with his own kind, partly because of the assumption he would eventually want to marry someone, which ought to be a human.

However, these ideas do not makes sense with Mowgli’s character or the worldbuilding of the film. In fact, the internal logic of The Jungle Book (1967)’s world- and character-building is broken to support the concept of fantasy-segregation between humans and animals-as-people, as primarily espoused by Bagheera. In doing so, Mowgli’s logical desires are glossed over, as well as his “jungle dweller” and “human” dual identity, and as a consequence, the film is made unsatisfying.

Safety Motivation

Characters believe Mowgli won’t be safe if he stays in the jungle. Bagheera, as well as the wolves (including Mowgli’s wolf-father Rama) believe Shere Khan will kill him and all those who protect him if he stays, and that Mowgli cannot survive on his own in the jungle.

However, Mowgli defeats Shere Khan by tying a burning branch to his tail, which makes him run away in terror. Within the scope of the movie itself, it’s plausible Shere Khan is still too terrified of Mowgli’s power of fire to return, eliminating one of the strongest points in the safety argument. Neither Kaa nor King Louie are remaining threats.As much as Kaa wants to eat a human, trying to eat Mowgli has always put him in substantial pain, so he never wants to encounter Mowgli again. Therefore, he is no threat, and he’s furthermore easily defeated when his target isn’t alone. The only threat left is King Louie and his monkey troop, but (presuming they’re still around after their temple home collapsed), but it’s likely counterproductive for them to harm Mowgli too much. While the monkeys could be a threat (they make Baloo trip over a cliff, which would logically have at least made him comatose), it is unclear whether the wolf pack would be afraid of them in the same way they’re afraid of Shere Khan. After his son had to leave before, Rama would probably advocate for letting Mowgli stay.

One might suppose there are other threats in the jungle. However, that Mowgli smacked Shere Khan in the face with a stick multiple times and idly threw objects multiple times in the film suggests he could use improvised blunt and thrown weapons, and he was also learning how to box from Baloo. The boxing, while probably of limited use against animals with claws and fangs, would at least help him anticipate and dodge attacks. There’s also the fact Mowgli wouldn’t need to be that effective on his own, because he would have the wolf pack to help him. Therefore, there’s not really any reason left for Mowgli not staying with the wolves.

Belonging

The second reason given for Mowgli staying in the Man Village is that he “belongs” in the Man Village. However, this isn’t as well-supported within the movie. He is not unwelcome or a misfit in the jungle. For one thing, he has a wolf family that loves him greatly. Rama, his wolf father, is reluctant to let him go, saying: “he's like my own son”, and Rama is only persuaded to let Mowgli leave when the pack leader points out they cannot protect Mowgli, for “even the strength of the pack is no match for [Shere Khan]”.

Mowgli also quickly befriends other animals in the span of minutes, which helps him in the rare instances other animals distrust him. He refers to Baloo as “Papa Bear” despite knowing him for less than two days, and Bagheera believes Baloo would want to adopt Mowgli. This provides an alternative living situation in the unlikely event Mowgli cannot stay with the wolves. The elephant Colonel Hathi deeply distrusts humans and thinks Mowgli “belongs” in the Man Village and ought to stay there. He also seems indifferent to the possibility Shere Khan might kill Mowgli. On its own, Colonel Hathi’s opinion might seem to corroborate Bagheera’s view, particularly since Colonel Hathi seems to have experience with humans (he was once a military elephant of the maharajah). However, Mowgli’s knack for befriending or endearing himself to animals comes into play here when Colonel Hathi’s wife and child, who like Mowgli, insist Colonel Hathi make a search party for him. Winifred points out Mowgli is like their own son, and cares enough about Mowgli to threaten to take over command if Hathi doesn’t make a search party for Mowgli.

The Man Village is very much a separate community from the his home in the jungle, as made particularly clear by their lack of animals (e.g., livestock). While Mowgli can quickly befriend others, he would likely be unhappy to leave the jungle forever. One might suppose Mowgli couldn’t fit in with the wolves because he cannot hunt like one, but there is no indication this is a problem: with his wolf family, he looks well-nourished and unharmed, with no scars or even scratches. The idea he cannot live in the jungle takes it for granted he must live individually.

Marrying a Human

The idea Mowgli ought to go to the go to the Man Village for marriage reasons assumes Mowgli would want to marry (though this remains to be seen, as he is no older than 11) and that he wouldn’t want to marry an animal. As odd as the latter sounds, there’s nothing actually objectionable about this in this setting, because all the animals are sapient and human-like in how they think and feel.

Although it might seem as if Mowgli’s crush on the singing girl in the film’s final minutes would inevitably draw him away from the jungle, thus supporting Bagheera’s assumptions, there are confounding factors. Specifically, the singing girl was the first other human he had ever seen, and had a a beautiful voice, the likes of which he probably had never heard before. These confounding aspects are particularly worthy of attention because he’s 10-11 years old, and so he would likely have little (if any) interest in romantic relationships. Furthermore, as Mowgli was raised by wolves, he would likely grow up with a different idea of what was beautiful relative to contemporary (1967) viewers. He also looked back at the jungle and his friends before he left, suggesting that, crush or no crush, he was understandably reluctant to leave the jungle and his friends there.

The World Breaks for Bagheera (Or a Nonsensical Idea)

Bagheera is the primary proponent of the idea Mowgli “belongs” in the village because he is a human. Bagheera is also the only character to hold views against “fantasy miscegnation” (that is, that Mowgli ought to marry a human), unless one counts Baloo’s feeble repetition of Bagheera’s words. In fact, Bagheera doesn’t even think about returning Mowgli to the wolf pack after Shere Khan is defeated.

That Bagheera would hold these fantasy-segregationist views is not too implausible: after all, the animal characters may be equivalent to humans in personhood, but between language barriers only Mowgli can overcome and animals’ different needs, it is likely animals and humans necessarily live in different places and may come into conflict with each other. The trouble is that Mowgli’s own desires is overrode through an implausibly strong crush, and that there’s the unquestioned assumption that Mowgli going into the Man Village with the Singing Girl means he’ll stay there, and that he would be happier there. Baloo even (reluctantly) admits Bagheera must be right about Mowgli “belonging” in the Man Village. The film’s ending breaks its world’s logic to “prove” Bagheera right.

But Why?

But why would the film break its own logic, and so severely? Most likely, it reflects beliefs held by executives (e.g., Walt Disney) with authority over the film. Specifically, Walt Disney insisted the film end with Mowgli going into the Man Village. One might charitably suggest that the original ending of the The Jungle Book wasn’t particularly ill-conceived by the standards of the time. However, the lost alternate ending of the film shows it was conceivable for the film’s writers to come up with something else that didn’t break the film’s logic to validate fantasy-segregationist ideas.1

In the lost alternate ending of the film (possibly planned by Bill Peet), Mowgli’s first encounter with humans is not with the singing girl, but with a violent, paranoid, superstitious hunter named Buldeo, who shoots at Mowgli. Mowgli is welcomed into the village by two humans who believe Mowgli is their child, who was lost to them long ago in a flood (when Bagheera first finds an infant Mowgli, Mowgli is in a broken boat by a stream). Buldeo’s violent ways, hatred for the jungle and its inhabitants, and destructive use of guns and fire show why Shere Khan should so fear guns and fire and hate humans to the point he would try to kill a human child raised in the jungle. It also shows why animals of the jungle live separately from humans for their own protection. Buldeo and Mowgli encounter Shere Khan, who ambushes and kills Buldeo. Mowgli uses the hunter's musket to kill Shere Khan. Bagheera and Baloo then take Mowgli back to the Man Village, and Mowgli is regarded as a hero in both the village and the jungle.It's mentioned Mowgli "sometimes made a special trip to see his other family, the one in the jungle", and Mowgli was honored with full membership in the wolf pack he was raised in.

On the whole, the choice to break The Jungle Book (1967)’s own worldbuilding and character logic for the sake of a particular ending or ill-suited message makes the film unsatisfying.

There’s actually quite a lot of discussion on the racially-prejudiced implications of The Jungle Book (here’s one sample), which is outside the scope of this article to include. This turn of phrase is a rhetorical move meant to strengthen the article’s argument against likely counterarguments, and is not meant to condone prejudiced messages in the film. ↩︎

#Meta #Analysis #Nonfiction #The Jungle Book #Disney's The Jungle Book #The Jungle Book (1967) #Fantasy Racism #Fantasy Segregation #Warning: Fantasy Racism #Warning: Fantasy Segregation