Eddage

So happy Spain lost, they were shit. Had over 1,000 passes but still couldn’t create any clear cut chances. Morocco deserved that! Can’t see Morocco repeating that against Portugal, who are 2-0 up at half time, though. So if England can get past France (very big if) I would expect them to beat Portugal as well.

Found a shiny Mareep, made sure to turn off autosave, then didn't actually save. Of course I knocked it out

What has Foden done to piss Southgate off then? Cannot believe he isn’t starting ahead of Mount, or even worse didn’t even replace him at some point considering how poor he was all game! Foden is arguably Englands best player and yet doesn’t seem to be getting a look in.

Don't think I'm going to be able to get round to starting the game until tomorrow morning, if you're available at all?

Does anyone want to be a legend and trade me a Quaxly when I start playing on Friday? Gonna pick Spriggatito but would love both in my team as I don't like the look of any of the other available water 'mons. Figured a few of you are at the stage were you can breed now

I’m gonna be picking it up on the 25th. Pay day treat and also gives me time to play the Crown Tundra DLC. Definitely getting Violet, prefer the legendary and Cerluledge looks awesome.

Literally just out the cinema! Really enjoyed it, definitely my favourite MCU film this year. there is no end credit scene though, just a mid credit one so no need to sit through them all!

Liking Toxtricity means you have great taste, one of the best Sword/Shield 'mons!

I'd be really interested to see which one you mean I have just seen the full Pokedex and I'm not really liking the look of a lot of them I think there's some cool dual typing but I'll have to see some decent quality in game sprites.

Thanks dude, just redeemed it

I wouldn't say no if it's still up for grabs!

Trouble is I doubt he’ll stick around for more than three seasons before heading off to Spain, or at least I hope he won’t

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62968072 How long has she been in charge? Just more of the same putting money into their rich friends hands! When has giving the already rich more money ever done anything to stimulate the economy? It'll just be sent to a bank account god knows where to sit and accrue interest...

Man, I remember this game looking a lot better than this! I love this game and would absolutely kill for a full remake but this just looks meh.

We've come full circle, these are just Digimon Not that I'm complaining, they look awesome

God this is something I hear so many people say and it really bugs me Don’t get me wrong, I love Jurassic Park, it’s probably my favourite movie of all time. Yes, the animatronics still look great but the CGI only sections look like pretty shit and definitely do not hold up! I watched all the Jurassic films a couple of months ago leading up to Dominion and those sections really take me out of the film

At least with VAR and the line drawing it is (theoretically) the same for everyone, even if the offside law itself could do with some tweaking!

I thought that was offside looking at Rashford's feet! God bless that shoulder

I still fully expect Liverpool to win this game but that first half was the best I've seen United play for such a long time! Amazing what a bit of energy and enthusiasm gets you! I like playing with both Eriksen and Fernandes, supported by a holding midfielder. Once Casemiro replaces McTominay we might have something resembling a competent midfield.

Having completed my LeafGreen Nuzlocke yesterday I decided to go back (or is it forward?) to try a Nuzlocke run of Pokémon Crystal. I've decided to keep a diary and will update after every session. The first thing I want to say is thank God I am playing this on an emulator with a 'speed up' button because this game is sloooow! As for the rules I'm just doing a very basic Nuzlocke... Catch the first Pokémon you find on a route. If the Pokémon is a dupe then you can try again until you find one you haven't caught before. If you fail to catch the Pokémon (knock it out or run out of balls) then tough luck, that means you get nothing on that route. Nickname all the Pokémon you catch. If a Pokémon faints then it is dead, release it (or put it in a 'dead' box in the PC). Having just played LeafGreen I'm hoping to able to catch as many Gen 2 Pokémon as possible, rather than ending up seeing the same ones you find in Kanto. But we'll see how that pans out... I started by picking the adorable fire mouse Cyndaquil and naming her Jubilee (there is a simple theme to all my names). After the annoying fetch quest at the start of the game it was time to catch my first Pokémon on Route 29. During the fetch quest I had run into a few Hoothoot and Spinarak so I knew those Gen 2 monsters were out there, unfortunately the almighty Arceus was not being kind to me and the first thing I encountered once I could start catching Pokémon was a Rattata, so off to a great start... I named it Rocket but didn't expect it'd stay in my team for long (spoilers)! I thought about catching something on Route 46, but decided to skip it for now. Next up was Route 30, still on the hunt for something new, but instead I end up with a... Zubat. Again, not the Gen 2'er I wanted but welcome to the team Morbius. I've never really used the Zubat line and now that Crobat has also been added it may stick around for a while. Route 31 was a similar story and another Gen 1'er, this time a Poliwag that I named Triton, Hypnosis at level 7 will come in handy for catching other Pokémon and Poliwag is cute so I won't complain too much. I popped into Dark Cave and picked up a Geodude, that I named Avalanche, as I figured it would come in handy against the first gym. Another Gen 1 but that was all I could get in Dark Cave since I had already caught a Zubat. I entered Violet City and ran straight through to Route 36 as I was still on the hunt for that Hoothoot, and with a 45% encounter rate at night I was surely going to fin.... nope Bellsprout... *Sigh* another Pokémon I am all to familiar with since I used Victreebel all the way to the end of my LeafGreen run. But, I suppose it is nice to have all three of Fire, Water and Grass so early on. Anyway, Ivy was added to the team and I headed back to Violet City and hit up Bellsprout Tower. Since I had already caught a Rattata I was guaranteed a Gastly and with Gengar being one of my all time favs I was quite happy with this! A simple hypnosis and bubble from Triton and he was mine, welcome Reyes and goodbye Rocket you stupid little rat, enjoy rotting in the box! With Bellsprout Tower out of the way I ended the first session by wiping out the Gym with Avalanche. His reward? Getting put in the box to make room for the egg the Professor's assistant gives you. I will be back for him but he was the highest levelled Pokémon on my team and I didn't want to box Jubilee (my only Gen 2 mon)! So my team now consists of... Triton (Poliwag) / Level 8 Ivy (Bellsprout) / Level 9 Reyes (Gastly) / Level 9 Morbius (Zubat) / Level 11 Jubilee (Cyndaquil) / Level 12 Egg... Whilst I was unhappy with all the Gen 1 Pokémon I was adding to my team at first it actually looks like it may work in my favour if I can find a Spearow on the next few routes. Catching Rattata on the first Route and then Zubat outside meant that Geodude was guaranteed in Dark Cave, and once I have Spearow (don't even need to find a wild one as you get gifted one after Goldenrod City) then that means a guaranteed Phanpy when I go back to Route 46! Good job I ignored it earlier! A guaranteed Gen 2'er that I have never used before will be a welcome addition to the team.

A lot more progress over the last couple of days. I caught a Hoothoot (Nite Owl) in the National Park and a Stantler (Burdock) on Route 37 then headed to Ecruteak City. Took out the Kimono Sisters and Ivy evolved into Weepinbell, then headed to Burned Tower and beat my Rival, this time I was prepared and Ivy dealt with Croconaw with ease! After a bit of levelling for the Ecruteak Gym Reyes evolved into Haunter and Morbius evolved into Golbat, I also took a detour back to Goldenrod City to pick up an Eevee (Grey) from Bill, that meant the end of Ivy's time on the team. Morty and Ecruteak Gym was another walkover thanks to Morbius using Bite, Reyes took a few out with Nightshade as well. Now that I had Surf I backtracked all the way to Union Cave and caught the Lapras (Mera), lucky it was Friday! Mera replaced Howard on the team and I decided to call it a day ready to head towards Olivine City. Picked up again this morning and decided to head East to Route 42 before I went to Olivine City and caught an Aipom (Beppo). This was all part of my plan to get a Heracross and now that is the only Pokémon that I'll find in a rare encounter from headbutting trees. On route to Olivine City I missed out an catching a Miltank on Route 38, then caught a Meowth (Hardy) on Route 39. I did a bit of levelling on Route 39 and Morbius evolved into Crobat and Ganesha evolved into Donphan. After visiting the Lighthouse I surfed over to Cianwood City and Morbius made it 2 gyms in a row after clean sweeping all the fighting Pokémon in Cianwood Gym using Wing Attack. Flew back to Olivine and after even more levelling Jubilee evolved into Typhlosion. Jubilee one shot Jasmine's two Magnemite with Fire Punch and Mera blitzed Steelix with Surf. Decided to call it a day with 6 gyms down and my team consisting of... Reyes (Haunter) / Level 35 Morbius (Crobat) / Level 35 Mera (Lapras) / Level 35 Ganesha (Donphan) / Level 35 Grey (Eevee) / Level 35 Jubilee (Typhlosion) / Level 36

A couple sessions later and quite a bit has happened. After betting the first gym I headed to the second in Azalea Town. Along the way I caught an Ekans on route 32 and a Hoppip on Route 36. Named Sidewinder and Sequoia respectively and they shall both live in the PC never to see the light of day! I'm sad that unlike in Gold and Silver you can't catch a Mareep in Crystal, Ampharos might be my favourite Gen 2 Pokémon. I popped a repel to get through Union Town as there is a Lapras I can come back to get later. Not sure if I would even use it in my team, but it's a better option than Onix or Sandshrew. Once I made it into Azalea Town I made my first major error, headed too close to the exit to Ilex forest and triggered a battle with my rival that I wasn't ready for. Unfortunately Triton didn't survive and was taken out by Croconaw. So I lost my water Pokémon maybe I will use that Lapras once I get it later after all! After a quick deter to kick Team Rocket out of Slowpoke Well and a bit of levelling Jubilee evolved into Quilava and together we destroyed Bugsy's gym and earned the Bug Badge. Whilst levelling for the second gym the egg also hatched into a Togepi (Egghead), another one that won't ever leave the PC! I ventured into Ilex Forest, caught a Kakuna (Wasp) and once I got the TM for Headbutt I put operation Phanpy into action. I headed back to Azalea and found a Spearow (Hawkeye) by headbutting a tree. With Spearow out of the way I backtracked all the way to Route 46 and after spending some time encountering dupes a Phanpy finally appeared A few Poke balls later and it was mine, welcome to the team Ganesha!! On the other side of Ilex Forest I purposefully avoided the grass on Route 34 so I could get another egg from the day-care, I was hoping for a Pichu or Elekid, but just ended up with another Pokémon destined for the PC... Cleffa (Amora). After a bit more levelling and battling in the Goldenrod City underground I took down Whitney with the help of Avalanche and earned my third badge. This marked the end of my adventure with Avalanche as I can't justify having both a Geodude and Phanpy on the same team. That little dude did well taking out two Gyms single handed, but I want to use as many Gen 2 Pokémon as I can! I ended the session by catching a Psyduck on Route 35 and named him Howard after everyone's favourite duck. So I wasn't without a water Pokémon for long and I've always been a fan of Golduck. At the end of yesterday's session my team consisted of... Howard (Psyduck) / Level 14 Reyes (Gastly) / Level 17 Jubilee (Quilava) / Level 20 Ganesha (Phanpy) / Level 20 Ivy (Bellsprout) / Level 20 Morbius (Zubat) / Level 21 The only thing that has dampened my spirits a little is how bad the Gen 2 move pools are! Especially when this is added to the fact that the Physical/Special split in the first three Gens is crap and means that certain Pokémon are effectively crippled because their typing doesn't match up to their stats, such as Feraligatr being a Physical focused Water type but all Water moves are Special. I've being to figure out move sets for some of my team but for most can only find 2 (or at most three) moves that I would actually use :/

So despite Man United being even shitter than anyone could possibly have imagined and sitting bottom with a -5 goal difference, we are still only two points behind Liverpool. I have to grasp at what little straws are available to keep me going right now...

I completed my first ever Nuzlocke yesterday - LeafGreen. Had a blast playing Pokemon but with a twist to make it more interesting. Right at the start I found a full odds shiny Pidgey, which was awesome, the first ever full odds shiny I've found in any Pokemon game! Named him Falcon and used him for about two thirds of the playthrough. In total I had 6 Pokemon die, most of them I didn't really care about but Xavier (Kadabra) and Kingpin (Snorlax) hurt as I planned to keep them in my team. I lost Kingpin to a god damn Gastly using Destiny Bond in Sabrina's gym, I was gutted! In the end I pretty much steamrolled the Elite 4 and Champion. Chavez (Starmie) was my MVP, took out Lorelei, Bruno and most of Lance single Handed with a movepool of surf, psychic, thunderbolt and ice beam! Gaea (Nidoqueen) destroyed Agatha with Shadow Ball and Earthquake. Managed to mix the others into the battle against the Champion and was happy to get a sunny day/solar beam play with Ivy against Blastoise and Rhydon. Overall really enjoyed it. Think I'm going to do a Crystal one next, then Emerald. Maybe a Scarlet/Violet one later in the year

I'm perfectly happy with how they've handled Phase 4 so far and I think comparing it to Phase 1 is a little harsh. Phase 1 we all knew they were building towards a team up, but that's all it was - the characters introduced in their own movies would join together in The Avengers. At a very surface level that is easy to do and build towards. Phase 4 on the other hand has had to deal with the aftermath of the Infinity Saga and at the same time try and introduce a new saga, and what they are building towards can't be something as simple as six people teaming up as that has already been done. This is why I think it is seeming a little disjointed as some projects have been focused on the aftermath and developing existing/introducing new characters (Black Widow (in a weird prequel way), Falcon & Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Wanda Vision, MoonKnight, Ms Marvel, Love and Thunder), and some have been hinting towards the bigger picture by focusing on Multiverse stuff (Loki, What If, No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness). At the same time we've also had the first confirmed mutant introduced which is obviously building for the future, with the second possibly appearing in Wakanda Forever. As well as introductions/clarification of different 'realities' in the form of timelines (Loki), Universes (What If, No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness) and Realms/Dimensions/Afterlives (Shang Chi, Moonknight, Ms Marvel, Love and Thunder). Regarding quality I am also happy with this phase. I don't think there have been any stinkers, I would even go as far as to say that I think I have enjoyed all of Phase 4 (with the possible exception of The Eternals which I thought was a bit meh) more than I did some Phase 1 films (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man 2) so I have nothing to complain about there. Out of interest how does everyone think the Multiverse / Timelines / Realms situation works? The way I see it each Universe (616, 838) that we saw in Multiverse of Madness can have it's own different timelines as seen in Loki. Then in between the Universes is where the Dimensions/Realms sit such as the afterlives (Ancestral Plain - Black Panther, Valhalla - Thor, The Duat - Moonkinght), Dimensions (Dark/Astral/Mirror - Doctor Strange, Noor - Ms Marvel, Ta Lo - Shang Chi).