u/ImaginaryWall840

Before I start, I wanna make it clear I'm not trying to attack or judge anyone. In the end of the day, this is all me problem.

You might be aware of "Beware of the Pipeline" meme where the character year after year transitions from a nerdy guy to a girl, with "they/them" as the middle point. I remember someone calling it out for suggesting non-binary identity is a "temporary state", however as time goes on, I'm starting to believe it might regrettably be true...

As a Non-binary person I tried to find people, content creators etc. who share my identity. Though as the time goes, I noticed quite a bit of them realised they are actually binary transgender.

This makes me feel rather sad, it's like the world is telling me enbies are not an actual thing. I hope those people are happy but very jarring to see this so often.

Has anyone ever felt like this?

When comparing the version included in faxiogadiego's Sea Sides version to regular album version I couldn't find any difference

His moans are pretty nice alright

Będę pisać licencjat na temat odnawialnych źródeł energii i szukam materiałów odnośnie OZE, atomu, węgla w Polsce, uzależnieniu od dostaw itp.

Macie jakieś książki do polecenia na ten temat? Te od Wiecha i niektóre Popkiewicza już mam, ale dobrze jest mieć tego dużo.

The invention of the Internet is like pure magic, the amount of doors it opens, the amount of words you can hear from wisest sages, exceeds what seems comprehensible. I’ll always cherish the day my ever-busy parents entitled me to this activity, combined with their hard work and price drop of Internet services, if it wasn’t for that I’d probably be stuck with internet cafes or schools computer. Granted, they also have their own ups and quirks, however there’s nothing like having things in house. Could you imagine having candy floss everyday?! Gluey trip to cloud nine!

Browsing through the web seemed like a perfect way to find more facts and trivia about the cartoons I’ve seen on television. I’m a huge sucker for shows that feature different collectible monsters like Pokemom, Digimon, Bakugan etc. and it felt incredible to have a rich access to fan-made databases. Very impressive they managed to keep track of all the details from the shows, from all attacks the creatures were able to use, to all minor characters. Finally learned how to write names of those critters! However, those weren’t the only revelations I came across. Turns out there was more than just TV shows. Cards? Toys? Computer games? They are making those things with my cartoon heroes? The best I’ve ever seen in retail stores was that annoying duck guy magazine, nothing what people from other places were able to get. It felt like I somehow teleported to a completely different world. World I’ve been deprived from due to circumstances.

I might not acquire the cards or toys but there’s still hope. To my surprise, you can not only play games in your browser but also download them from the Web. Apparently, there are claims getting copies of games from the Internet is illegal? The police will catch me for such a harmless act? Weren’t they supposed to keep us safe? Legal or not, that was my only chance to feel like buddies with monsters. My father complained about my “childish” interests though it’s way better than the games my classmates are into, with that uncivilized language he would most likely scold me for…

Fortunately for me, Pokemon games are pretty easy to snag. So incredibly tiny and compact, arriving on my machine in a flash! They’re nothing like usual PC games, all spacious and spread around a large sum of files, although I’m pretty sure they both can give a similar amount of joy. Access to the monster fantasy land however is rather specific. You have to use a special programme that somehow makes the game work, cause it’s actually supposed to be playable on a game console, game console I wouldn’t get ever, no chance. Not in a million years. The real deal looks pretty, ability to carry it anywhere is super convenient, kinda like a mobile phone for games. The application on the other hand, seemed somewhat slimy, lots of options I was dumbfounded by what they’re for. What if I ticked a wrong option that would… do something weird? As long as I keep my operations to loading “ROMs”, it should be fine though. Right…

The game I’ve put the most effort in was LeafGreen, which seems like it puts me in the majority, though not exactly cause other people prefer the warm version of the game. It has a cool dragon on it. Ravaging beast synergised with a destructive element, capable of disintegrating thousands of living beings… Screw that. I picked LeafGreen cause its available Pokemon are wayy cooler. Nothing will beat Sandshrew, that curling armadillo fella. Yeah it’s my fave, it’s just so adorable ahhh~! Starmie, a water type Pokemon that can learn an electric move? That’s mind-blowing! Not to mention its above-average combat skills. Come to think of it, those “version exclusives” and “trade evolutions” are excessively annoying. There’s so many Pokemon you artificially cannot get in the game, I suppose it’s way more manageable on real Game Boy but even then… Good luck when you have no friends. And no money.

Thankfully, for people like me there are cunning strings of characters called “cheat codes”. You put them in the appropriate tab and they’ll help out with something, lack of lives, choosing a level you couldn’t reach etc.

Before you call me a nasty, cowardly fraud, difficult fights are the best part of the game, obviously I only used those to encounter critters I wasn’t able to find and only occasionally I used Master Ball codes, wait scratch that. All neatly contained in one file, included with downloaded files. This way I was able to get the most out of the game, catching and raising monsters like Alakazam and Gengar, strong and prestigious trade-only Pokemon, discovering Pokemon from later regions that you would never imagine are in this cartridge, those look a tad goofy if I say so myself. Not everything was so functional though. For some reason, the legendary Mew code doesn’t work the same way other ones did, it’s treated as if it wasn’t caught be me but by an other trainer, as if it was Mimien or Zynx or other guys. It’s worse actually, Mew disobeys you no matter what and it doesn’t get any extra experience, what a ripoff. Even when you’re just about to grab it, the pink bugger skims past through you…

I tried to find more information about the number 151, turns out this monster was specifically programmed to disobey you if you cheat. That behaviour is also shared with other Pokemon called Deoxys, although I didn’t have that issue because I caught it from secret in-game event. Bummer, isn’t it? Is there really no other way? Well… I tried to look through Youtube videos about this issue… and I found something… A video called “obeying mew in leaf green dma code” from a channel “asigurte03”. DMA? What’s that? Probably some nerdier lingo I wouldn’t understand. Anyway, the style of the video was dime a dozen. “Unregistered HyperCam 2” in the top-left corner, Notepad as the main method of info commute. Mister Asigurte should had really learn how to record a video in normal quality, cause what I’m seeing barely decipherable, no audio either. Tutorial creator started to type... something at snail’s pace in the note programme: “hell0! 1 w1ll Sh0w y0u h0w t0 ge1 Mew!!”. Rather outlandish thing to put in your tutorial vid, no idea why would you type this way in something that’s supposed to guide you, or at all… I guess some people find enjoyment in other’s annoyance. The video maker deleted the sentence he wrote and went forth: “D0wnl0ad XPC file! It has everything set up for U t0 get Mew!1 :3” He tried to highlight the extension with a cursor but he erratically got stuck on one letter and didn’t bother to correct it. “N0 worry 1t o1eys, rofl! Open VBA and 1he game. Now, 0pen fi1e tab, import Gameshark and agree t0 a1l!” said the new string. I wouldn’t be able to figure it out without the visual guidance, the text is not clear enough and hard to decode, at least he shows it’s “Gameshark code file” and not a snapshot button. The pop up window did show up and after clicking “Yes”, the creator quickly opened the cheat code window: “Turn 0n de chea1s and ge1 ur first P0kemon replaced 1n de b0xx! Turn it 0ff if it’s Bad Egg! Cl0se and 0pen PC Boxx again!”. Strings seemed even weirder now, but the rest of the video mirrored author’s scribbles. Notepad took a backseat, as the rest of the video showcased the obeying Mew cheat in question, Bad Egg had showed up, triggering corrupted graphics. That startled me for a bit, it was... unexpected. Gosh, like those ghost videos… Crack in digital landscape prompted Asigurte to disable shady game-modifiers and by refreshing the Pokemon Storage System, Mew arrived safely. It did obey the player! He opened Notepad again and highlighted the text after writing it:“Nuff said :3!1111 Have fun with y0ur 0bedient Mew!111”. Youtube vid ended with pitch-black screen that lasted for more or less 30 seconds.

I did mentioned I’m not certain about messing with emulators settings but cheats only change the game’s data, moreover I got really excited by the idea of using Mew that’s capable of combat and not just napping… Decided to check the comments: “Thanks, it works!” “Great tutorial!” “mew”. As helpful, as always. I shifted my focus towards the description, it hosted a MediaFire link. I clicked it and… it was a xpc file, not rar, zip or god forbid exe with shady, ad filled installer. Haste triggered by this situation made me download the file, it seemed legitimate, around a size a text file would be. I plugged LeafGreen in my virtual Game Boy and put Rattata into the first slot of BOX1 (sorry lil guy). Cautiously followed the steps in the video, it’s file code not snapshot, and there it was, the confirmation window. Mew will be there soon… I clicked yes and…

“Ur PC will be 0bedient n0w.”

“What… What is this…? What’s this pop-up window? You’re joshing me now?” I thought to myself. This uninvited message raised my concerns, it sounded ominous. Why would you even add something like this?

It made me nervously check the Pokemon Box, it was a prank right? Low and behold, Mew arrived to my PC.

The pink buddy was the same one as from the video. It held AURORATICKET, OT as NYC and looked absolutely stunning… I was admiring this elusive critter for a bit, until…

“WOOOOO!!”

Huh?! Some image was there… Some image flashed on my computer, flashed before my eyes… For a split second, I couldn’t have a look at this atrocity for any longer. It was some kind of face but that’s all I know…

With panic rising, I decided to close this game. There are more important matters at hand. I got turned into a scam victim and the rouge programme wasn’t thinking about stopping. Staring at the desktop, all the games I’ve managed to download, all the browsers I’ve installed, all the pictures I’ve saved, they lost their actual names. Instead of what they were named, the text is now weird symbols, squares or runes that somewhat resembled real letters. Clicking on the image of, as far as I can remember, the Sandslash I’ve put an effort to train yield… Nothing. It was gone. Not only this image, but all other ones, as well as document files, were met with the same fate. At this point, I’ve gave up upon any restrains… I’ve started to cry. I had no idea, no idea how I was so naive, so incautious, no idea how to stop this, how to fix this.

I hear another “WOOOOO!”, the image appeared again, this time I’ve seen it’s spruced with swirly eyes.

“Hav1ng fun? :3 Y0u’re such a dummy!1111”

My irritation started to grow, so I closed the pop-up, hoping to feel some faint relief.

“N0t much y0u can d0! Turn 1t 0ff 0r enj0y 1f y0u can!”

There wasn’t any way for me to undo this scrape. Got lured straight into Asugirte’s clutch. The workstation progressively became less and less usable. Text corruption has expanded beyond the file names, leaking to operating system strings, to make matters worse. I hadn’t have all of prompts memorized, so the PC succumbed to an unexpected metamorphosis. From a good friend to a complete stranger. The jumpscare image started to intensify its prominency. With how often it appeared, I managed to assemble the puzzle piece and deduct it’s message. Clown-like face, taunting with its tongue, saying “Y0U G0T DUMMED!”. Yes, I really was dummed. I kept hopelessly watching the escalation of malicious programme. Colours changing, screen becoming hazy, it didn’t matter. My dearest friend was lost, nothing left, only a shell of what it once was. During all the havoc happening on the screen, the last pop-up window I’ve came across emerged.

“Th1nk twice bef0re y0u chea1!!!!!!!!!!”

I did think twice, however it wasn’t enough. Next time I’m gonna think thrice, 10 times or whatever number that’s appropriate. If there will ever be next time… I decided to unplug all the wires from the workstation and sat on the corner of the room. I hid my face and cried buckets. Gallons of blue. All the time I’ve spent with my critters, only a memory. Hard earned money of my parents, down the drain. At least the databases still could be accesses at public internet spots. I have no idea what to do. I’m cornered. It all seems like hell.

But. The real hell. Is just in front of… Me...