#the Cervi would probably be the only ones that are like ‘keep those things off our planets’

[shuvva]

Making a Spore hard mode species that’s a tardigrade/cat combo and kind of acts like Nibbler from Futurama. Basically like ultimate survivalists that eat everything but are also cute and intentionally play that up to manipulate other species into fighting for them and doing all the heavy lifting.

They live right next to the Eu’phoria who are obsessed with them the way we are with cats. I’m making myself laugh at the different federation races being obsessed with them for completely different reasons.

[optimisticcritique]

Gotham 4x09 - Re-Watch Review

Getting closer to catching up...Probably going to do these for weekly episodes too. 

Pyg donning those costumes. He must be fun on Halloween.

Poor homeless people...I thought you were all about the homeless, Pyg! Now you are just being hypocritical.

Being a hypocrite in Gotham? Crazy.

I imagine that pig mask must reek. Is it a real pig head? The question is directed toward the character, not the actual actor. 

Come on, Harvey. It was not meant to be personal.

Don’t you hate it when boyfriends fight?

Umm not necessarily, Harvey. Fish could have betrayed Falcone and ended up running things instead of him. You and Jim might have been arrested for Oswald's murder too. Lots of different possibilities if Jim killed Oswald. 

You know, deep down, Jim wouldn’t want Ozzie dead. He cares about him too much, you can see it with the way he is so desperate to bring him down and put him behind bars. 

Oswald: Not coming. Nope. No way. Have to investigate. Sofia's thoughts: Penguin isn't coming? Let me mention Martin. That'll change his mind. *mentions Martin* Oswald: Of course I will be there. Wouldn’t miss it!

Mr. Penn is more strategically smart than he's letting on. I’m telling you, he’s more of a mastermind than we all think and he will conquer Gotham next. Do not be fooled. Mr. Penn shall rise!!! 

Someone quiet...if only we knew someone Penguin could trust that fits that exact description.

Cervis is so amazing in this role. I will miss him. 

Well, I will never look at pigs the same way again... 

Seeing Pigs eat people...I do not know if it makes me feel better for eating bacon or more appalled. There is just something ironic about it.  

Alfred with his strict breakfast time. This is the one thing I disagree with you, Alfred. Can no one sleep in? Can you not have a brunch? What if he wanted breakfast food for dinner? You know that is actually a thing.

Bruce drinks coffee? Have we seen him drink coffee before?

Bruce is trying to find distractions for his feelings... I can relate. I mean, that is what fandoms are for, right? 

Let Alfred help you!! I feel like I have said this so many times that it has become my motto. 

It's always nice to see Harper out and about. Please keep her alive. 

Ouch! That stab looked like it hurt. Why Harper? Why???

Oswald helping Martin dress. How nice. Oswald probably learned tips from Elijah and Ed helping him dress. 

Well, Oswald isn't wrong when it comes to Sofia using the children. 

Oh gosh...the tear on Martin's cheek. Do not make him cry again!

Sofia clearly has the press wrapped around her finger. 

Jim is lucky that Foxy is there with such insight. Otherwise he would have to use Gotham's version of Google AKA looking through a bunch of books to find info like a cave man. Could take much longer.

So, is Pyg actually telling Sofia his plans? Is that what is actually happening here? 

I love hearing more about Alfred's past. They should really delve more in it for the show. 

Sometimes I forget how close Alfred was to Bruce's parents. It must have been so hard for him to lose them too...

Wow, Bruce. Alfred just tried to be personal with you...and you steal his car and leave him on the side of the road. Rude. 

Wait, I know Bruce is like 16 but can he drive? Or is there a cut scene where he runs into a tree, jumps out, and just starts running home? 

The matching suits for Oswald and Martin. Like father, like son. 

Jim, I don't recall you having an invitation to be there. Should have RSVP'd.

Oswald meeting Pyg. I love when villains have scenes together. 

Penguin just never catches a break with these dinners. Last year was the mad hatter, this year was Professor Pyg. What next? Condiment King for season 5?

"Is this another one of your plans?" Wow, Penguin guessed it initially. Should have gone with that instinct. 

Honestly, Oswald was right about each of his first thoughts on Sofia. It’s like when you take a test, fill in the right answer, but then second guess yourself then choose the wrong one. Always ends in failing.

Martin being full focus? It's like Pyg knew that Penguin loved him most... 

Pyg singing = the best ever. I love when villains be this extra. I want Pyg and Ed to have an extra off. 

So did Pyg find specifically named homeless people to fit the lyrics to the song? That would explain why he wasn’t in episode 8.

Oswald, you should be use to cannibalism and bodies cooked in food by now. 

This is pay back for when he did it to his step mother, isn't it? 

"But he's just an orphan" -- You're SO dead. 

Imagine cooking all those pies and at least two of them being wasted, uneaten. Pyg went through all the trouble to find homeless people, poison them, cut them up, bake them, and slaved over a hot oven for these pies!

RLT's acting on eating the pie...gosh, when he gagged, I wanted to gag too. 

Pretty sure there is an extended scene where Oswald critiques Pyg’s choice of baking. “Honestly, I would have baked the corpse to the point of crisp and added some flavor to it but that’s just me. I’ve tasted better.”

Jim saving the day, just in time before Sofia can eat a pie. I have to wonder if this was planned or was there even really a dead person in her pie to begin with? 

Wonder what would have happened if Jim just gave up. Would Pyg give up too? Try to kill him anyway?

I am still shocked that Harper is still alive after all this. 

"What you were going to do for Martin...that was real" Was it though??? 

Notice how Penguin agreed to abandon the licenses for Sofia...see, I still think he could have done it with Jim if Jim had just tried to just be his friend himself. Then Jim would ask, "Can you get rid of the licenses?" Oswald would say, "Sure, sure. Whatever you want. Want to get lunch now?" The end. Conflict over. 

"Bye bye piggy! Bye bye!" Gothamites giving intelligent responses to criminals when arrested. 

So, what did they say when Penguin got arrested? Were they just as original?  

First day as captain and he caught the Pyg? Almost as if someone planned it that way. 

I think I missed something. How did Alfred get back exactly? Did he hitch hike? Did he call an uber? 

Everyone being afraid of Alfred and just leaving. They know what’s up.

"Stop trying to be my father and be my butler. Clean this place up" Geez Bruce. He is trying to help you!!! I cannot wait until this moody faze is over. 

So, is Oswald near to tears because Sofia lied to him, Jim is betraying him, or Jim is taken yet again? 

Over all: Funny enough, there wasn’t much surprises in the episode when first watching. Despite this, it was an entertaining episode. It was mostly Pyg and Bruce/Alfred related stories. Professor Pyg was a very fun villain. Penguin and Martin grow closer. Penguin finds out Jim is involved with Sofia and Sofia is trying to bring Oswald down. Jim arrests Pyg, more respected as captain. Bruce keeps spiraling and becoming more a jerk to Alfred. Alfred tries to help Bruce through his moody teen faze. 

Previous Review: 4x08  Next: 4x10

[madpicks]

New Post has been published on https://www.madpicks.com/sports/soccer/champions-league/3-things-learned-benfica-stunned-borussia-dortmund-1-0/

3 things we learned as Benfica stunned Borussia Dortmund 1-0

That wasn’t the result we expected.

Tuesday was a day of surprising results in the Champions League, and Benfica joined the party by staging a 1-0 upset over Borussia Dortmund, riding an early second half goal from Kostas Mitroglou to victory in a match that left Dortmund players, coaches, and fans alike shaking their head in frustration.

Borussia Dortmund started the match in full control of the proceedings, using a significant advantage in midfield quality and in sheer pace to pin Benfica back and get into the final third at will. But some poor decisions and even worse execution at the hosts’ end of the pitch meant that Dortmund couldn’t use their advantages to their fullest, and Benfica were able to slow their way to getting to halftime with the match still scoreless.

That opened up a chance for Benfica to come out swinging and knock Dortmund down a peg, and that’s exactly what they did. They came out playing much quicker than they had at any point in the first half, throwing BVB’s defense into disarray and giving them the chance to score off an early set piece — a chance they took full advantage of in the 48th minute, with Mitroglou finding space in a shoddy set-piece defense setup from Dortmund and heading home with ease.

That goal would be all Benfica needed to see out the win, though Dortmund would nearly score twice in the next 10 minutes, only for the normally reliable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to mess up both times, one from a horrid finish from open play, and one with one of the worst penalty attempts we’ve seen in the Champions League so far this season. Even an excellent performance off the bench from young USMNT star Christian Pulisic wasn’t enough for Dortmund to find a goal as they sunk to a deeply disappointing loss.

The end result is a fantastic one for Benfica, and it actually gives them a real chance to advance in this tie. They’ll have to be even better in the second leg to keep Dortmund from getting their revenge, but they have a much better chance than anyone expected coming into the day, and that’s all that Benfica or their fans can ask for right now.

Benfica: Ederson; Nélson Semedo, Luisão, Vicotr Lindelöf, Eliseu; Ljubomir Fejsa, Pizzi; Toto Salvio, Rafa Silva (Franco Cervi 67’), Konstantinos Mitroglou (Raul Jimenez 75’), Andre Carrillo (Felipe Augusto 46’)

Goals: Mitroglou (48’)

Borussia Dortmund: Ramon Bürki; Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis, Marc Bartra; Eric Durm, Raphael Guerreiro (Gonzalo Castro 82’), Julian Weigl, Marcel Schmelzer; Ousmane Dembélé, Marco Reus (Christian Pulisic 82’); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (André Schürrle 62’)

Goals: None

Three things we learned

Dortmund need to be much more clinical in front of goal

BVB were very good at controlling possession in the match, largely dictating play and getting into Benfica’s half of the pitch and even into the final third almost at will. But once they got into the final third, they struggled badly, consistently taking one or two touches too many and giving Benfica the time they needed to shut the chances down. When Dortmund did get a chance put together in front of goal, they were about half a beat off from one another and those chances went to waste.

That lack of clinical play in front of goal probably won’t cost Dortmund too heavily in this tie once they get back to Germany, but it cost them this game and if they want to be a real contender in the Champions League they need to figure out what’s going wrong there. It’s been holding them back in the Bundesliga as well, but you get a lot less room for error on the Champions League stage than you do in any domestic league.

Benfica made the right adjustments to get the result they needed

While Benfica did very well to keep Dortmund at bay, when they got on the ball their biggest weakness was exposed in a bad way: they are very, very slow. Their lack of pace kept them from taking advantage of the various counter-attacking opportunities they had during the match, and in the first half it looked like it would doom them to defeat.

Then the halftime whistle blew, and Rui Vitoria started tinkering with his team. Off went Andre Carrillo, who had been deeply disappointing for most of the match, and on came Filipe Augusto, who slid into the middle to help link play better through midfield while Rafa Silva took over out wide. That change helped Benfica start moving the ball quicker, making up for their lack of pace by switching the ball continuously to keep Dortmund off balance. That directly helped to set up a set-piece opportunity just two minutes into the second half, one that Mitroglou scored from thanks to some poor defending.

That kind of adjustment isn’t one that many managers would make, but it was that one that Vitoria needed to make, and it was the exact right response to the situation at hand on the pitch. That’s how you win games as the underdog on this level, and that’s how Benfica can keep themselves as a threat even when they’re outclassed and outpaced by the teams around them.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the worst match of his Dortmund career

Now, Aubameyang was far from the only Dortmund player to struggle in the final third. Ousmane Dembélé and Marco Reus had their own issues, but this is a match that Aubameyang will never ever want to see a scrap of footage from.

Normally lethal on the ball, Aubameyang had issues finding the right runs, was dreadful trying to link play to his fellow attackers, and was too easy for Luisão to mark out at times. And that’s not even touching on his finishing, which was the worst aspect of his game on Tuesday. He badly whiffed on three excellent scoring chances for Dortmund, and then when they had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot just before the hour mark, he shot tamely and right down the middle for Ederson to palm away.

It was an unquestionably terrible performance for the usually excellent striker, and no one was really surprised when Thomas Tuchel took him off five minutes later for André Schürrle. Aubameyang didn’t deserve to stay on the pitch after how dreadful he had been, and he’s going to have to look long and hard at this performance to figure out just what went wrong.

[junker-town]

3 things we learned as Benfica stunned Borussia Dortmund 1-0

That wasn’t the result we expected.

Tuesday was a day of surprising results in the Champions League, and Benfica joined the party by staging a 1-0 upset over Borussia Dortmund, riding an early second half goal from Kostas Mitroglou to victory in a match that left Dortmund players, coaches, and fans alike shaking their head in frustration.

Borussia Dortmund started the match in full control of the proceedings, using a significant advantage in midfield quality and in sheer pace to pin Benfica back and get into the final third at will. But some poor decisions and even worse execution at the hosts’ end of the pitch meant that Dortmund couldn’t use their advantages to their fullest, and Benfica were able to slow their way to getting to halftime with the match still scoreless.

That opened up a chance for Benfica to come out swinging and knock Dortmund down a peg, and that’s exactly what they did. They came out playing much quicker than they had at any point in the first half, throwing BVB’s defense into disarray and giving them the chance to score off an early set piece — a chance they took full advantage of in the 48th minute, with Kostas Mitroglou finding space in a shoddy set-piece defense setup from Dortmund and heading home with ease.

That goal would be all Benfica needed to see out the win, though Dortmund would nearly score twice in the next ten minutes, only for the normally-reliable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to mess up both times, one from a horrid finish from open play, and one with one of the worst penalty attempts we’ve seen in the Champions League so far this season. Even an excellent performance off the bench from young USMNT star Christian Pulisic wasn’t enough for Dortmund to find a goal as they sunk to a deeply disappointing loss.

The end result is a fantastic one for Benfica, and it actually gives them a real chance to advance in this tie. They’ll have to be even better in the second leg to keep Dortmund from getting their revenge, but they have a much better chance than anyone expected coming into the day, and that’s all that Benfica or their fans can ask for right now.

Benfica: Ederson; Nélson Semedo, Luisão, Vicotr Lindelöf, Eliseu; Ljubomir Fejsa, Pizzi; Toto Salvio, Rafa Silva (Franco Cervi 67’), Konstantinos Mitroglou (Raul Jimenez 75’), Andre Carrillo (Felipe Augusto 46’)

Goals: Mitroglou (48’)

Borussia Dortmund: Ramon Bürki; Lukasz Piszczek, Sokratis, Marc Bartra; Eric Durm, Raphael Guerreiro (Gonzalo Castro 82’), Julian Weigl, Marcel Schmelzer; Ousmane Dembélé, Marco Reus (Christian Pulisic 82’); Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (André Schürrle 62’)

Goals: None

Three things we learned

Dortmund need to be much more clinical in front of goal

BVB were very good at controlling possession in the match, largely dictating play and getting into Benfica’s half of the pitch and even into the final third almost at will. But once they got into the final third, they struggled badly, consistently taking one or two touches too many and giving Benfica the time they needed to shut the chances down. When Dortmund did get a chance put together in front of goal, they were about half a beat off from one another and those chances went to waste.

That lack of clinical play in front of goal probably won’t cost Dortmund too heavily in this tie once they get back to Germany, but it cost them this game and if they want to be a real contender in the Champions League they need to figure out what’s going wrong there. It’s been holding them back in the Bundesliga as well, but you get a lot less room for error on the Champions League stage than you do in any domestic league.

Benfica made the right adjustments to get the result they needed

While Benfica did very well to keep Dortmund at bay, when they got on the ball their biggest weakness was exposed in a bad way: they are very, very slow. Their lack of pace kept them from taking advantage of the various counter-attacking opportunities they had during the match, and in the first half it looked like it would doom them to defeat.

Then the halftime whistle blew, and Rui Vitoria started tinkering with his team. Off went Andre Carrillo, who had been deeply disappointing for most of the match, and on came Filipe Augusto, who slid into the middle to help link play better through midfield while Rafa Silva took over out wide. That change helped Benfica start moving the ball quicker, making up for their lack of pace by switching the ball continuously to keep Dortmund off balance. That directly helped to set up a set-piece opportunity just two minutes into the second half, one that Kostas Mitroglou scored from thanks to some poor defending.

That kind of adjustment isn’t one that many managers would make, but it was that one that Vitoria needed to make, and it was the exact right response to the situation at hand on the pitch. That’s how you win games as the underdog on this level, and that’s how Benfica can keep themselves as a threat even when they’re outclassed and outpaced by the teams around them.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the worst match of his Dortmund career

Now, Aubameyang was far from the only Dortmund player to struggle in the final third. Ousmane Dembélé and Marco Reus had their own issues, but this is a match that Aubameyang will never ever want to see a scrap of footage from.

Normally lethal on the ball, Aubameyang had issues finding the right runs, was dreadful trying to link play to his fellow attackers, and was too easy for Luisão to mark out at times. And that’s not even touching on his finishing, which was the worst aspect of his game on Tuesday. He badly whiffed on three excellent scoring chances for Dortmund, and then when they had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot just before the hour mark, he shot tamely and right down the middle for Ederson to palm away.

It was an unquestionable terrible performance for the usually-excellent striker, and no one was really surprised when Thomas Tuchel took him off five minutes later for André Schürrle. Aubameyang didn’t deserve to stay on the pitch after how dreadful he had been, and he’s going to have to look long and hard at this performance to figure out just what went wrong.