#gotta play 'em all

[rapifessor]

Good news, everyone!

Yesterday, I was talking with my friend who offered me his copy of Pokémon Platinum and I mentioned how obtaining Emerald was going to be the biggest financial hurdle. He said he should have a copy of that somewhere as well, but like Platinum he didn't know where. Naturally, I told him that I'd be very grateful if he was able to find his old Pokémon games, as it would make my quest to play them all considerably easier. Emerald is easily the most faked game on the market because of its luxurious status and price point, so having access to an authentic copy would save me a lot of trouble.

Well, guess what: not long after saying that, my friend gets back to me with good news. He didn't just find his copy of Platinum, but Emerald too, AND Fire Red.

I couldn't believe my luck. With those three games, so many of my problems are solved. I could play all the versions I wanted without having to spend a ton of money. But it gets better: my friend offered me a deal. He had two Nintendo DS Lite systems that couldn't read games, but otherwise functioned normally. If I could restore their functionality, he would straight up give me Emerald and Fire Red in addition to Platinum. Even though these games are worth big money.

I mean, hey, I can't argue with a deal like that. How lucky does a guy have to be to not only find a bunch of old Pokémon games in trustworthy hands, but to also have the opportunity to earn them for free? I didn't know anything about cleaning or refurbishing a DS, but there was no harm in trying. So I stopped by my friend's house after work that day to make the deal.

Turns out cleaning a DS Lite isn't overly complicated, and I had on hand all the tools needed for the job. I just needed to get into the slots and remove the corrosion. So I did that and also cleaned the corrosion off of the games themselves, as I discovered during my testing that some games worked better than others. With a few hours of work, I got both systems reading games pretty consistently, which meant that Pokémon Platinum, Emerald, and Fire Red were officially mine.

Ah, but there is a slight... problem. The thing with these older Pokémon games is that the cartridges have batteries in them. In Emerald, they're meant to enable time-based events to occur, and in Generation 1 and 2 GameBoy games, to allow the game to save. These batteries only last about 10 to 15 years before they dry up, which means most if not all Emerald games have dead batteries.

Not to worry though, as it is possible to replace the batteries in these games. It's fairly simple as well, as long as you know what you're doing. You just need a special driver to open up the cartridge, a fresh battery with soldering tabs, a soldering iron, and some solder. Once I get a battery and the tool I need to open the cartridge, I can restore functionality to my copy of Emerald.

That leaves just three games left to acquire. One of those is on the way as I'm writing this: a copy of Pokémon Yellow, the game I need to start playing, and with a new battery already installed no less. I found one on eBay for $40, and figured it was worth paying a little extra to not have to bother with getting a new battery for it. Generation 1 games as it turns out are surprisingly cheap. In fact, they're the cheapest games on the market aside from used copies of 3DS and Switch Pokémon games.

The same cannot be said of Generation 2 games, however. At least, not for Crystal.

Pokémon Crystal is worth a pretty penny, second only to Emerald in value on the secondhand market. Finding a copy of this that doesn't run me more than $100 is proving to be a bit of a challenge. And I'll most likely need to replace the battery on top of that. Not a big deal, but it does marginally add to the expenditure. Since I refuse to accept Gold or Silver in the place of Crystal, obtaining this game will be the greatest obstacle faced during my quest, especially as I need to play it before I can play the rest of my games.

But even as Crystal has so far eluded me, I have gotten my hands on the only other game I had left to buy: Pokémon White.

I decided to return to the GameStop where I bought Black 2 and Soul Silver before, and luckily (how many times have I referenced my luck in this post?) they still had this copy of White. I'd done some more pricing research yesterday and realized that I underestimated the value of a lot of the games I was looking to pick up. $75 turns out to be a fair price for White, although you could probably get it cheaper if you really stake things out.

Funnily enough, $100 for Leaf Green turned out to not be far off, either. But Fire Red was the version I wanted, and in fact, my friend happens to have Leaf Green himself. In case I ever want any version-exclusive Pokémon from that game, I can always borrow it to trade them to my Fire Red.

And that about does it for this Pokémon game collection progress update. I can't say I ever expected to get so many games so easily, but here we are. It's barely been three days and there are only two games that I don't yet have in hand. It won't be long before I can start playing either, as my copy of Yellow should arrive any day now. I'm excited to get this thing started.

[brighteuphony]

I love Chiyo- and I kind of headcanon her as a Witch of the Woods (Sands???) archetype- a bitter old woman who has sacrificed too much, experienced and committed more atrocities than anyone can imagine, and who knows the truth about what lies in the hearts of men to live among the villages anymore.

In my AU she's got a pretty dark backstory. Back in time when Villages were just getting established, women weren't allowed to be shinobi in the same capacity as men. There was too much warring and death among the clans to risk women, so they were only ever allowed to serve as spies or medics. (Chiyo started off as a medic).

And like any military/fascist dictatorship, serving the state was more important than anything else- so women who were kunoichi were given missions to steal and return with powerful bloodlines. Even before villages, this was a common fear among clans (which is why so many of them have protective measures and inbreed/arrange matches very carefully).

Chiyo was one such woman, who took a X-rated mission in her youth because she was told it would 'serve her nation'. There was a powerful bloodline whose Kekkei Genkai could harden sand to something akin to Steel- something Suna very desperately wanted.

Chiyo succeeded in her mission, but despite the veneer of 'serving your nation', when she returned, she was considered, in her words, "Just another whore."

Then when her son didn't manifest the bloodline- it was worse, but Chiyo was happy because that meant her son was HERS. (This is when she met Enji, and he saved her son's life at great cost- so Chiyo owes him a blood/life debt.)

Then the war came, and they needed women to fight so now serving the nation meant something different, and Chiyo became a full fledged 'shinobi' and turned her healing towards poison and death- especially when she had to fight the Salamander.

Then she sealed Gaara and that was the atrocity straw that broke the camel's back and she dipped out Suna and retired to an oasis. She's still a healer, but adamantly refuses to serve shinobi.

Once again, thank you so much for these asks and all the support for this AU?

@youngpeacearbiter

[luck-of-the-drawings]

OH ARTHUR BENNETT.. such a gorgeous and intriguing character. terribly burdened by a GRUESOME set of crimes, his light suffocated by a HEAVY century of GUILT. so tragic, so dark and broody, and yet PAINFULLY awkward in any social setting ever

[spookberry]

page 4 😊

(previous)

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

Was finally able to update my Custom 2012 figure today. Last night my girlfriend got me the neca Kirby figure that had the perfect body proportions for 2012 & I got to work repainting it. The head I have wasn't an exact fit but I don't have the money to 3D print another one. So I decided to cut & remove the neck entirely & replace the holding piece with a new one made from apoxy & then made more minor adjustments.

While at it I also finally adjusted Stockboy and I'm pretty pleased with his results too

[sketchy-tour]

I'd like to think that Dandy in their scarecrow costume actually seems to attract crows instead of "scare" them.

The whole time they're in their getup, a crow or a few follow and linger around them. At first startling Dandy at the begining of their Halloween celebration and eventually they just sort of get used to them.

[flamboyant-king]

King back at it again with yassifiying indie game characters! *backflips into a running washer*

[aurosoulart]

I'm making a bunch of AR pride flags for Pride Month!!! 🌈🌈🌈 they are uh. very fun to play around with

when I finish this batch I'm gonna upload them to Figmin XR's Discover panel so they'll be available for everyone! 😁

[bellaxgiornata]

Y'all, I did find Eat Local for free so my ass is watching it tonight and ogling that glorious beard on Charlie.

[rapifessor]

Here it is: Pokémon Yellow.

You wouldn't know it if not for the signature yellow cartridge. Pokémon Yellow is the only GameBoy game to ever use it. It's not much to look at, but this yellow cartridge is where it all begins.

Already tested it to make sure everything's kosher, and I plan on starting tomorrow, when I have time between classes at school. Though I may decide to start after work today if the mood takes me. Either way, you can expect some posts about my first experience with classic Pokémon soon.

I've bought Pokémon Crystal as well. It'll be a while before it gets to me; the seller is located overseas, but I was able to talk them down and get a pretty good deal on the game, even with the hefty shipping cost. That marks off the last item on my list. Once I have it in hand, my collection of classic Pokémon games will be complete.

I'm getting my tools today, and batteries should be coming in soon, so I'll be able to work on my games and install new batteries when the time comes. I opted for a larger battery, a CR2032, for Crystal instead of the CR2025 it's manufactured with. It'll be a tight fit but it should still work and has the added benefit of having a little extra life in it. Unfortunately, the largest battery that can fit in a GBA Pokémon game is a CR1616. Can't get a long-lasting battery into one of them, but it is what it is.

[spitblaze]

If I had a nickel for every incarnation of princess zelda I think is transmasc. I'd have two nickels

[dysfunctional-cryptid]

Umbreon, for a friend.

[andtheywerefootballers]

So Jamal didn't extend his contract (yet) and Flo's runs till 2026, right? Trying to analyze at what club they could end up in...ain't no way Bayern will pull out millions for Flo if they're trying to be financially cautious. BUT what club is realistic? The only club that both has money AND midfielders leaving likely next year is mancity...I s2g if I'm right, I'll eat a brick or something and if not, everyone, ignore this post

[her-canine-teeth]

bad astrology by flower face

[vroomian]

Forever mad that the Anita Blake series wasn’t about the adventures of Edward and Anita, platonic life partners, killing things and being so weird about each other >:/

[britcision]

Gang I blistered 3 fingers unlacing and relacing these so first my very tiny partner and then my very juicy calves could fit in them and It Is So Worth It I Have Never Been Happier

Over the knee, white holo faux leather, WITH my most favourite sole, the Shaker???? Demonia came for my goddamn THROAT

Only criticisms? Please for the love of all that is good provide a wide calves version, I am riding the goddamn line and it shows, and also holy shit the laces are Rough

And they have to be, they’re under pressure here, but goddamn I am serious I am blistered and I’m going to do it all again

FUCK I’M A DUMBASS SHOULDA WORN MY COMPRESSION GLOVES

Everything still fucking SUCKS on this side atm, but my gran sent me money for a flight out even knowing ahead of time I wouldn’t be able to make it and told me to spend it on something that would make me happy and think of her

And it’s real hard to be depressed in thigh high white holo boots

(I. She. She’s my good Christian Granny. I don’t think I can show her. But they made me smile the easiest I have in 3 weeks and they weren’t even close to the cost of the flight so I can do many more things she will approve of that I can show her before it’s too late)

(The fucking SECOND Demonia puts out a white holo ankle boot in Shaker or Camel lemme tell you I will simply perish I cannot afford shit rn but ONE DAY.

My standard for adult success has been “can I afford Demonias” (whether or not I then do) since I was 14 years old and yeah I’m failing now but I’m failing while already owning Demonias so it’s still a win)