#cale's entire team is insane

[crazydaymycrazyway]

Alberu: They ask how I control Cale and his group

Alberu: I don't control them whatsoever

Alberu: Today 4'o clock in the morning Cale barged into my room through a portal, said that Choi Han, Raon and Rosalyn destroyed a few mountains, took my cookie jar and left. Today morning I got a report stating that the royal palace of the country that was planning on having a war with Roan got destroyed in a landslide.

[bringmecoffeeandroses]

So, I did a stupid thing and re-watched 9x09.

And, while I think I’ve said my peace on the mistreatment/use of one Paul Jesus Rovia (actually, no, I haven’t, I never will because my sweet badass boy is dead and it was all a waste and tragedy and I die on this hill, okay?) I do think there were a few things I wanted to make note of. Go no farther if negativity or Adaptation spoilers/content bother you.

So, here goes my long-ass post:

I said this when I first saw the opening minutes, but I’m so glad AMC took the time to show us Paul’s dead face and blood gushing out of his chest. Definitely not a sign that they’re recapping the last episode for the people that didn’t tune in to 9x08.

Also, thank you for exploiting the hell out of the “shock” of Paul’s dead body but giving the brain stab so little time it was hard to figure out what the hell he was doing. It’s really important to leave that in though or I wouldn’t have thought anyone was smart enough to do it. ‘Cause these people haven’t been doing this for ten years and you’re assuming your audience is too dumb to realize anything happens off screen.

Why would they not have a permanent guard on Negan? Like I get it, he’s been locked for years but they weren’t even doing it back when Rick was alive and I gotta tell you, that’s fucking insane. Like, we’ve literally seen that Maggie wasn’t the only one who wanted justice, what would stop someone from Oceanside agreeing with Maggie and going off to murder Negan??? (It also might have been nice to see a real situation in which Negan escapes with an act more direct than Father Gabriel being a dumbass but whatevs. (No, I don’t care if the comics did this. In comics, Maggie came after Negan after he escaped and assuming that one of the Saviors wouldn’t take the opportunity to bust him out or someone from one of the three communities he terrorized wouldn’t come to kill him is a kind of interesting dynamic - protecting everyone from Negan but also protecting Negan from everyone else. Just...more interesting.)

Negan walking around with a shovel in a house where he might meet Judith or Michonne makes me itchy. Unless he’s planting sunflowers, that shovel can stay the fuck away from my Grimes girls.

Still think you should’ve just shot him, Jude.

Okay, Negan’s speech about how Alexandria is a wonderland is fairly easy to follow. But part of what Rick was trying to teach everyone was that you need other communities, the saviors could be saved, ect. It’s definitely not like the comics in that Negan learns the lesson about civilization being “protecting the weak among us” but my biggest problem is that it’s all kind of moot in that TV!Rick was wrong? Like, the communities have nothing to do with each other, particularly Alexandria? And the Saviors are dead or gone? This is the problem when you try to shove too much into a ton of character exits and time jumps AND you try to follow comic storylines without applying the message/main character arc from it. You might think I’m over-exaggerating but it’s half the reason Negan contrasts with the Whisperers and ends up killing Alpha. He’s showing loyalty to Rick, yeah, but he also identifies the reason he is different from the Whisperers. They give no mercy to weakness and that’s what makes them animals - that’s the lesson Rick Grimes was trying to teach Negan by saving him.  

(I’m just saying, Negan’s redemption arc is gonna be damn hard without Rick and Judith  - who has no connection with who Negan was and is still not developed - is not a character that can show that narrative.)

I know that Eugene talking in riddles is a quirk but can someone tell the writers that some quirks are not necessary in every damn scene and are obnoxious and mood-breaking? Just let Eugene be silent and terrified please?

I should also note that I see no head wound on Paul and I am completely and utterly okay with that.

So, I have serious issues with the “Jesus chose to be out there”/ “It was bound to happen” lines. Like yes but also no? Paul might have been reckless in the past by going out but that had little to no bearing on why he was out now? He was rescuing Eugene. You were out there for the same reason, Aaron. He didn’t die on a picnic in the woods. An enemy snuck up on him. Period. And the alternative was either you or Daryl or someone else from your group dies because they get surprised by them. Or you leave Eugene to fend for himself in the barn. Which I’m all for if it meant Jesus would be around but. you know. I’m all for a grieving person thinking this way - a lesson learned in fear - but that better be resolved, if only for Aaron’s sake. 

Ugh, I hate that no one’s crying over Paul but Tara putting her hand on Jesus makes me really fucking weepy. It’s almost like they could have developed this relationship to a point where it fucking mattered... -_-

10/10, Tammy is getting too much screentime and going to end up on a pike. Caling it now.

Can I ask what happened to the walkie-talkies? They were solar, right? There weren’t a limited number of them in the world, right? Why is this not still a thing? Did I miss something? That would make this Luke/Alden situation moot.

You know, if they wanted to give someone a romance with Rosita, I wouldn’t have complained if it was Tara. I never hardcore shipped it but it would’ve made more sense and this pregnancy thing wouldn’t be an issue. Or, if it was, I’d care more. lmao.

This writing is so stupidly on the nose. Gee, could Henry’s questions also be what’s going on inside Daryl’s head? ~~~The world may never know!!!!!!!~~~  

Weird side note: I love The Dream Team/Jaaryl and all but I feel like the show kind of dismisses the fact that Aaron is (presumably?) a single dad? Like, I love seeing him out there and I’m all for the end of cooping up my precious gays but whats happens to Gracie if he dies? She has no other parental figure.  He is the only person she has and I feel like “making it back to Gracie” is a fear no one considers, not even Aaron? Like, leaving an orphan in this world would be fucking awful, especially since her OG parents were already murdered. Just...this is why this cast of thousands doesn’t fucking work when you don’t explore the communities rather than just a couple characters.

Listen, I give Michonne her due but I firmly believe that Tara could run this place on her own. The show took all that time saying that Paul was a shitty leader that left all the time, the least you could do is point out that Tara has been handling it like a single leader this entire time. Tara handles her shit, man. TARA FOR HILLTOP 2019.

I choose to believe that Daryl going hard on Lydia is redirection of his grief and no one can stop me. Daryl Dixon repressing his feelings is pretty much a life motto for him and I both love him for it and want to hog tie him and drop him into therapy.

I’m deeply not into the Whisperers so far and am kind of glad to be out from TWD’s viewership (hopefully for good) but this reminds me of the odd hope I had watching Fear The Walking Dead. Once upon a blue moon, I’d hoped that FTWD was prequel-ing the Whisperers in TWD. Like, Madison and Alicia would end up being Alpha and “Lydia” and we’d get to really get a feel for the characters in TWD. Lame idea, I guess, but that’s what I wanted to happen. Not that FTWD has been a waste of a show that barely connects with TWD or anything. IDK, I just wanted to share that because this Whisperer storyline is going to be the worst and I honestly hope it all burns.

So, yeah, just a few notes for those who are bored enough to read them.  

[paradoxicalca]

r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 5: Presidential Losers Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Oct 28, 2019 - Nov 3, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (28/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (1.38)Boston Bruins110-1-22-0-0The Bruins and Sharks gave new meaning to "Hockey Fights Cancer" on Tuesday night. The game was 5-1 at the end of the second and the third period was so scrappy that the refs were giving out game misconducts like halloween candy to players on both teams and even a coach. The Sens game started great for Bruins with the Sens having too much man, giving the Bruins a PP which Pasta quickly scored on for his League-tying 13th. Shortly after, Backes and Sabourin had an unfortunate collision which caused Sabourin to be evacuated and Backes to leave the game. It is hard for players to continue after such an injury early in the game, but Marchand couldn't resist himself and had to do Brad Marchand things. This is the last light week for the Bruins until New Years where the Bruins will have 3-4 games a week.2 (2.41)Washington Capitals211-2-33-0-0The Caps won a tight one against the Leafs then SMOKED the Sabres, in what was the first Caps game DC watched in weeks. We were busy watching the Nats bring another title to the nation's newest title town. I'm still a little hungover from the parade. Anyway the caps are technically the best team in the league and subjectively kinda look like it. Carlson sonned the entire league for a month, Ovi's on pace for 60 goals, and our depth is actually a strength for the first time in years. This season's been a joy so far, the kind that reminds you why you like sports in the first place.3 (3.66)New York Islanders410-3-02-0-0Everything is going perfectly. Goaltending is as good as it was last year. Defense is limiting chances and Pelech looks like a top tier d-man getting paid like a #6. Barzal is doing the same things he always was, but results are now coming. Nelson dominated Brocktober. Bailey and Lee are living up to their contracts (shoutout to everyone on /r/hockey who said paying Bailey after having production this late in his career as a result of JT was Clarkson 2.0). Brassard moving to wing has proven to have ridiculous success (5 straight games with a goal). And the 4th line (TBFLIH is a 3rd line right now) is doing all you could ask for. Things are amazing.4 (5.21)Carolina Hurricanes29-4-12-1-05 (5.93)Edmonton Oilers-10-4-12-1-0Gave the Red WIngs their only regulation win in weeks, but we got some strong wins against the Blue Jackets and the Penguins. This team is performing far above it's expected level. This can be largely thanks to the some excellent play from Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen. The team undeniably needs more scoring from the bottom 6, but goals from Cobly Cave and Khaira this week has been a positive. THE player for the Oilers in the most recent stretch has been easily Drasaitl. The man is playing insanely well and is easily playing like the best player in the league. McDavid seems to be struggling a bit, but he's considered to be a generational talent for a reason. The man will be back to form soon enough. Insane that McDavid struggling is still leading the league in assists, and in 4th in the league for points. The powerplay has been chugging along at league 2nd best numbers, but the percentages are deceiving as we've gone 10% this week.6 (7.17)Buffalo Sabres-39-4-20-2-1Colin Miller shoots the puck 95% of the time he gets it in the offensive zone. Jack Eichel needs to be more like Colin Miller. The Buffalo Sabres need to stop trying to force passes through three or more defenders on the power play and in tight on the goalie. We put in a decent game against Washington and got frustrated against the Islanders. It should be noted that both of these teams have been playing extremely well as of late and we haven't been playing as well as we could be. We saw the first major line blender on Saturday and that should continue in Sweden. Hopefully two games at home should energize our young Swedes and turn this ship around.7 (7.31)Colorado Avalanche-68-4-20-2-1Injuries suck but great teams win even without key players. Avs just seem to be lacking energy since Rantanen and Landeskog have been out. They haven't looked awful but certainly not good enough to be a top team in the league. The Good News Mackinnon seems to be catching fire again. His point streak came to an end, but he is shooting a ton and creating chaos. Hopefully he manages to wake up the rest of team and get them going. Calder Watch: Cale Makar is still leading rookies in scoring, but looking a lot better, and starting to try and blow through opposing teams. Cannot wait for him to score an end to end goal he has been very close. This week has two divisional match ups and a game in Columbus. We need to win at least two to turn this ship around.8 (7.62)St. Louis Blues79-3-33-0-0Even though we have won 4 games in a row those wins were not against impressive teams and each one of them was closer than I would’ve liked. Tarasenko is clearly missed in those games and we need one of the young guys to step up to the plate.9 (9.41)Vancouver Canucks79-3-23-0-1Writing from security line in the airport so forgive me. Last week I said I wouldn't complain if the Canucks kept scoring 5 goals a game. So I won't. While I felt the Canucks' first game against Calgary more or less set that bar for how bad this team can look with a healthy lineup, this week has given us a pretty good glimpse into what they look like playing at their best. The Canucks were defensively sound and utter dominant in the offensive zone in every game this week, and they were rewarded for their efforts by every goaltender not named Gibson. Demko and Markstrom continue to be playing out of their minds, even if they are still prone to the occasional brainfart. How long can it last? Who knows - it's still early and hard to guess what the "new normal" may be for this club (they seem to be taking a step this season, but how big?) For now, it's just fun to see the goals pile up.10 (9.76)Nashville Predators-28-4-21-1-1Well that was an up-and-down week. The week started with Peks getting his second SO of the year against the Hawks, in a game that will appropriately get a redo in two weeks. Halloween saw the Flames come to town, in a game that can only be described by the word "epic". Yeah, we lost it in OT and I should probably be upset proving the most dangerous lead in hockey, but that was one of the most thrilling regular season games I've seen in a while. Seriously, do yourself a favour and watch the full game if you didn't see it live. Saturday against the Rangers saw Saros continue his swing back into form; unfortunately, it also saw the offense struggle to click and was the first game this season the Preds didn't score multiple goals. Continuing the dichotomous mood of the day, the Winter Classic jerseys were also revealed to both adoration and disdain. Errrr... yeah, usually I write these into some semblance of a point but I got nothing else so... [insert smooth, cohesive ending here]11 (11.1)Anaheim Ducks-9-6-12-0-1Congratulations to Getzlaf for playing in 1,000 NHL games. He has played in exactly half of the franchise’s 2,000 games. Definitely a number in the rafters whenever he wants to hang them up. In other news, Ritchie did a thing that wasn’t a penalty. He scored a goal! The ducks seem to play to the level of their opponent. Still should be an up and down season.12 (11.41)Vegas Golden Knights-38-5-20-0-2The Knights played only two games this week and both games are eerily similar. The Knights go in the third up by two controlling play for most of the game only to lose the lead after taking the foot off the gas in the third period and then losing in overtime. Vegas has all the talent to win in the league but they need to close out games like those. Questions are also surrounding the health of forward Alex Tuch as he left Saturday's game early with an upper body injury.13 (11.48)Arizona Coyotes-8-4-12-1-0We have come a long way in the past two years under Tocchet. It took 37 games two years ago to reach 8 wins on the season, now it took only 13. If Chayka’s gamble on paying players on future potential pays off this team will compete for years to come.14 (12.41)Pittsburgh Penguins-48-5-11-0-115 (14.45)Toronto Maple Leafs-37-5-31-0-1The Leafs got back Travis Dermott this week, but his effort with Matthews' two goal performance wasn't enough to beat Ovi's 4 point night, as they lost in OT, 4-3. After a few days of rest, the Leafs faced a tired Philly team, and it took 11 rounds of shootout before Andreas Johnsson secured the second point for Toronto. Marner/Matthews were flipped back to the sides they were on last season, which scored 1 in 8 (!!) powerplay opportunities vs. the capitals. The penalty kill also has been struggling, as it let up 2 goals on Saturday in Philly. Once the special teams are looking a little stronger, this team will be a lot more consistent, and rise up these rankings.16 (16.31)Calgary Flames28-7-22-2-0The Flames had a tough week with 4 road games and split them 2-2, including an exciting comeback win against Nashville. While the Flames still aren't at last years form, they have been putting in better effort and leaving fans a bit more optimistic.17 (16.48)Montreal Canadiens-7-5-22-1-0Can't complain with 4/6 points on a western road trip. Boys managed to win on the second half of a back to back even with their backup in net. Maybe a certain team would like to know the secret?18 (16.86)Florida Panthers17-3-42-1-0The Panthers have had the hardest schedule to open up the season and are in 3rd place in the Atlantic. It's not always pretty (like Huberdeau's mustache) but the job gets done (like Huberdeau's play). The week started terribly in Vancouver but they bounced back with wins over Colorado and Detroit. Next up will be a big challenge against the Caps and hopefully Trocheck and Matheson will be healthy by then.19 (17.52)Tampa Bay Lightning-56-5-21-2-0I'm hoping this week long break will help this team to wake up, because sometimes it really looks like they aren't trying. The PK is still abysmal, and with how many penalties the team is taking, that turns into a decent amount of goals for opposing teams.20 (17.76)Winnipeg Jets18-7-02-1-0Things are starting to look up in Winterpeg, 2-1 on the week, couple of hard fought back to back wins over San Jose and Vegas. With the high undoubtably being Lowry making Vegas look pretty dumb for paying a bonafide goon 3 mil a year to lose a staged fight vs an actual NHL caliber shut down centre. This team, while the record doesn’t look amazing, feels to be gaining some amount of momentum, and this maybe feels like the start of something really really good. The talent on the front end is undeniable, if the back end can keep things together, this is a good team. But knowing the Jets I’ll be writing next week about how they need to sell everything after going 0-321 (19.76)Philadelphia Flyers-16-5-21-1-1This week was an up and down week, but overall I'm alright with it. Got 3 out of 4 on a back to back between the devils whom we beat, and the leafs who took 11 ROUNDS IN THE SHOOTOUT TO FINALLY COME TO AN END LIKE JUST EXTEND 3V3 OVERTIME ALREADY and lost to. You'll notice I'm not referencing a certain game on tuesday because I've actually blocked out the memory of that game. Our young guns are doing well, Elliot should probably be the starter in a 1a 1b with Hart, and SANHEIM STAY ON YOUR SKATES YOU CANT KEEP FALLING OVER. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Praise Gritty22 (20.1)Dallas Stars47-8-13-0-023 (22.76)New York Rangers15-5-12-0-0As I said last week, we should expect the unexpected. Beating two solid teams comes with that apparently, but I won't complain. Calling up Chytil and Lindgren has worked out great. Fil has two goals in two games and Lindgren has played very well. This team is gonna continue to be confusing but hopefully they will continue to be entertaining.24 (22.76)Columbus Blue Jackets-25-6-30-2-1The good: Sonny Milano may actually be in the middle of a breakout season. If he can just not do stupid things he'd be a great middle-six player. Gavrikov has been a solid addition to our D pairings. The bad: Goaltending and defense. Defensive play in front of our two young goaltenders has been questionable at best. The goalies themselves are not two-time Vezina winning goalies either. The ugly: Scoring - The Jackets have 34 goals for in 14 games -- good for 27th in the NHL (along with 50 goals against, which is also 27th). We have 1 player in the top 100 in the league, and 2 in the top 200 in scoring so far. (Dubois with 6-4-10 for 86th and Cam with 3-4-7 for 183rd) Special teams - Honestly just getting sick of talking about this. Our power play is so bad it's comical. We're in the bottom 6 in both PK AND PP %, which no other team is.25 (24.69)Los Angeles Kings-5-9-01-1-0Started the week with a loss to Chicago, ended the week with a win against Chicago in a doozy of an OT game that Doughty finished off. Kings are still right about where people thought they would be so no big surprises yet.26 (25.97)Chicago Blackhawks14-6-31-1-1Dach is here to stay. Boqvist was recalled from Rockford. His first NHL goal was the Hawks' first by a defenseman at 5-on-5, becoming the last team to score as such. Also, Toews earned his first 5-on-5 point with a secondary assist on Boqvist's goal. Hawks' rookies that scored their 1st NHL goal in the 1st period of their 2nd game this season: Kubalik, Dach, Boqvist. The Hawks gave up 100 shots against in consecutive games (Tue @ NSH & Sat @ LAK). Scott Powers wrote, "The Blackhawks’ expected goals percentage was 22.65 against the Predators, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s the lowest it’s been in the last five seasons." Seabrook was a healthy scratch for the 2nd consecutive game (Tue), but drew back into the lineup. On Saturday, the Hawks broke their drought of 22-consecutive PPs without a goal, and Crawford played his first game without giving up a PPG against. Lehner's streak of penalties killed ended at 25. He earned his 100th career win Sunday.27 (26.34)San Jose Sharks-44-10-10-3-0Another garbage week for the Sharks. This week is their last chance to turn it around, if they're still at the bottom of the pacific by the 20 game mark it's very unlikely we'll make the playoffs. This has been such a frustrating team to watch. There have been good games, so I know the team has it in them to play well, but Deboer's system is failing. It feels like a repeat of last season's start where our system of lots of point shots is failing us on defence without providing all the goals it did last year. The team is far better when we cycle in the offensive zone and use our forward talent instead of relying on Burns/Karl's point shots which cause too many turnovers. There's far too much talent on the roster to be doing so badly, it's time for Deboer to make some changes or Doug Wilson will have to.28 (26.52)New Jersey Devils13-5-41-0-2What is there to say at this point? This team is not winning as they should be. The Good: We managed to beat the Hurricanes, by some stroke of luck, and the Flyers game wasn't a complete dumpster fire. Vatanen has been playing very good offensive hockey and is currently 3rd in points on the team, and Zacha seems to finally be breaking into his own. The Bad: We keep blowing leads, we had leads in both the Bolts and Flyers losses. Oh and it's worth noting that in a 7 goal game, Stammer and Kuch combined for 0 points against us. Plus both our PP and PK are sitting near the bottom of the league. The Ugly: Blackwood has a 3-2-3 record (every win and OT loss) while sporting a 0.878 SV%. Yikes. Hall has 12 points and is point per game, but only has 2 goals. He really needs to be one of our finishing guys, currently the only guy over 5 goals is Palms at 6, and 3 came during his wasted hat trick against the Bolts.29 (26.97)Minnesota Wild-14-9-10-2-1Three losses for Minnesota this week and the boys knew how to treat their fans well by losing in a different fashion each time out. Every veteran looks like they've lost another step over the summer and any faithful fan courageous enough to watch night in and night out should be looking to add twelve steps to their life. Hey, at least we're getting some great Boudreau memes out of this nightmare.30 (28.07)Detroit Red Wings-4-10-11-2-0The amount of effort needed to put into this blurb might exceed the effort we have been seeing from our beloved Wings. The talk of the NHL town has come towards head coach Jeff Blashill as he occupies a chair set in the California wildfires. Yzerman most likely does not have a replacement as of yet and offered Blashill a two year extension at the start of the season so I would be surprised if he lets him go now. Here is the issue. Either Blashill is not making great game plans or the players are not executing them and going freestyle. The effort just seems very lazy from the team as of now so I will choose the latter. The power play goals seem to come from crisp passes and good positioning rather than luck, and the Wings are looking to make the right plays but it just seems like they are executing well at all. We shall watch with great interest to see if something changes.31 (29.31)Ottawa Senators-3-8-10-1-0The Good: Our Tank is on track, the Sharks are falling hard in the standings, and all the other teams we're competing with for 31st in the standings have at least 1 point this week. A great week for the Sennies game plan to #DernièrePourLafreniè. The Bad: Logan Brown going into week-to-week mode due to an unspecified injury and Sabourin suffering a particularly scary concussion put a serious damper on the Bruins game. Thankfully, Sabourin is being released from the hospital today thanks to some kind of miracle (and the world-class doctors of Boston). In further silver lining, this means in the next game we'll have a line with Mikkel Bødker and Bobby Ryan on it for maximum overtank to really keep us low in the standings. r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 5: Presidential Losers Edition Source