Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Lovecraft + King = Weird dreams.

I've been tearing through The Skeleton Crew lately. After reading Firestarter, I wanted to be able to go through some short stories, and I had been wanting to read The Mist. So, I finished reading The Mist a couple of days ago (which is the first story in the book), and now I'm in the midst of the second to last story of the book. And earlier I dreamt that I was stuck in this supermarket with bags of fertilizer in front of the front doors to keep the monsters out (and at some point, a guy started getting the crap kicked out of him, which I think had something to do with the story "Nona").

::shakes fist at Papa King::

But I suppose that's what happens when you down a bunch of creepy stories in a row. They're bund to give you Lovecraftian dreams ... especially when they're written by Stephen Freaking King.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

'The Time of the Doctor' -- DX 2013 Xmas Special


Warning: Spoiler Alert

I just saw the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor" (which should be watched before the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor"). I don't know how I didn't hear from someone that it was out there. It's not really necessary to understand what is going on with "The Day of the Doctor," but adds a little bit of filler, and finally lets us see the death of the 8th doctor. And even if I don't count 8 as my doctor (since it was 10 that actually got me into the show), he was still my first doctor, and it was nice at least be able to have a visual to see what had happened to him.

This year's Xmas Special ...

I don't know if I have just gotten so used to the Uncle Rusty years and how 9 and 10 regenerated that I was expecting something long those lines, but ... I thought that this episode was rather disappointing. It felt like there was all kinds of build up and no real pay off. Sure, it was cool to see the Weeping Angels, the Silence, the crack in the wall, and Amy again, but ... it just didn't quite live up to what I thought that it could have been.

Also what didn't live up to what it could have been ... how the doctor got more regenerations. And I kind of wanted to scream at someone that they were counting the creation of Tinkerbell!10 as one of the regenerations (and having 11 say that 10 just kept his face, cuz he was vain). Turning 11 into 13 and having the Time Lords just send him some regeneration energy through the crack so that he could turn into 12 seemed far too much like deus ex machine. I wanted there to actually be something to him getting a new life that we might have bee sure that he wouldn't have been able to have gotten before without it feeling like the writers were cheating (and maybe hadn't really thought the whole thing through, or that they just couldn't figure out an answer for how he would have gotten more lives).

11 sending Clara away every chance that he got, I get that the writers were wanting us to see it as the doctor being selfless and wanting to help people, but also wanting to make sure that his companion didn't get hurt, but that isn't how it came off. It may have a bit to do with the fact that up to this point, we haven't really gotten to know Clara all that well (she's still relatively new to us), but the way that it was written felt much more like a bit of misogyny (making sure to keep the little woman away from the danger, cuz she wouldn't be able to handle it, and the big, strong man needed to protect her from it). I'll fully admit that I have a bit of an issue with Moffat's writing of women and that may be part of why I am completely dissatisfied with Clara in general, but she seemed a bit useless and helpless in this episode (which made me feel even more dissatisfied with her than I normally am).

I'm not sure if the Dalek's turning everybody into Dalek's was supposed to be a nod to the fact that when we first meet Clara, she's been turned into a Dalek (and doesn't realize it), or not, but it didn't quite work for me. It felt like a combination of overkill with the trying to make nods to other things that have happened in 11's tenure, and having something happen within the story that didn't quite make as much sense as it could have (if that particular ship was as powerful as 11 was making it out to be, I want more than an, "Oh, BTW ... psyche! Everyone's a Dalek!"

Also, what is with saying that every companion is the doctor's best friend? Ever since Donna (at least, that's when I first noticed it), the writers have some sort of comment made (whether it's in canon, or in blurbs about the episodes) about how the companion that he's with at the time is his best friend. Not every one is going to be bestie materiel. He might like some of them pretty well, but that doesn't mean that they are BFFs. Rose was BFF for 9 (even if neither of them said it), and she was true love always for 10. Martha was a good friend and someone that 10 could trust, but they weren't besties (partly cuz he was still trying to get over Rose). Donna was BFF. Period. End of sentence. If 10 could have grown old, Donna was the he would have shared a flat with, and the two of them would have grown old together (while driving each other crazy). Can you tell that Donna is my companion? Amy was very special to 11, but I don't know that I would have called them besties. The fact that he came into her life when she was a child changed the dynamic of their relationship, so that there was a paternal vibe there (or at the very least, he was that crazy uncle that she liked to spend time with). Clara is/was the mystery. Yes, 11 was fond of her (and I'm sure that 12 will be, too), but the mystery dominated too much of their relationship in the beginning (and they were together, as far as we have seen, too little for there to be any bestie feelings. They haven't known each other long enough, or have the connection that 10 and Donna had from almost the beginning).

ETA: I have to agree with the timey-whimey of what happens to the other incarnations of Clara that are put forth here, as well as some of the other things that were lacking in this episode.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Desolation of Smaug


Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, I had the afternoon off after going to an interview earlier, so I went to see The Hobbit (you can't really beat a $5 movie in the theater). I didn't really go into it with high hopes, since I had still managed to get a vibe that it wasn't terribly fantastic, even with my phobia about spoilers.

Plus, there was the fact that Evangeline Lilly was in it, and she had two things going against her from the word jump: I have never cared for her, and I tend to lean toward being a Tolkien purist. But I was kind of surprised by the fact that I not only didn't have a problem with the addition of her character (a character that is nowhere within the legendarium), or the addition of the love triangle between her, Leggy, and Kili (something else that doesn't occur in the legendarium), but I actually kind of liked her. Sure, they changed some stuff with Kili to accommodate the addition of her character and the fact that he is now suddenly in love with her, but it felt almost like they were trying to tie The Hobbit movies to LotR (via Gimli being bonkers over Galadriel). My purist leanings were a bit bothered by the fact that there are four dwarves that are not at the Lonely Mountain (and who are instead in Lake Town) at the end of the film (especially since shit is going down).

I will admit hat I had a bit of a squee over the Easter Eggs that appeared in the film ... like PJ showing up in Bree (a la FotR, complete with carrot), Stephen Colbert in Lake Town (which I might have missed if I hadn't been prepared for it), and Leggy talking crap about Gimili to Glóin. Plus, I did nerd out a little over the fact that Gandy and Radagast visited the grave of the Witch King, and Gandy talked about the fact that Sauron was calling the Nine to him. Yes, complete set up for LotR, and not something that actually happened in The Hobbit, but it still made me happy.

That being said, I am not entirely sure as to why this film was called The Desolation of Smaug, when the fight with Smaug (and the destruction of Lake Town) isn't going to happen until the next film. Keeping the fight with him until the next film makes it feel like there's going to be a rush to get through the next one, since they still have to have Bard kill him with the black arrow, and there's still the Battle of the Five Armies. Bilbo getting back home is still needed as well, but there isn't necessarily a whole lot that is needed to be shown with that. But the death of Smaug and the Battle of Five Armies are two pretty huge things to leave for the end (and that's not even counting the fact that they still need to get all of the dwarves back together again as well ... and get Gandalf back with the gang, who is trapped again at the top of a tower. Can he get through either trilogy without getting trapped? Seriously); it almost feels like having two finales instead of pacing it.

I was also expecting there to be a little bit more with Beorn than there was. There was so little of him in the film that it almost didn't seem necessary to add him, and he almost could have gone the way of Tom Bombadil. As it was, it felt like the only point of adding him was to make sure that the dwarves got ponies for a portion of their journey (so, he really was the Bombadil of this trilogy), but the ponies were only use for all of three seconds.

I kept wanting to shake Thorin, especially when he started talking crap about Bilbo (calling him "The Burglar," instead of Bilbo. This bothered me more out of the fact that at the end of An Unexpected Journey, he had finally seemed to accept (and respect) Bilbo, but the gold fever had wormed it's way into his head far too far by the time that they actually made it to the Lonely Mountain.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

'Twelve Days of Krampus' -- Grimm 3x08


Warning: Spoiler Alert

Oh, how I loved this particular episode. It made me all kinds of happy on the inside. I loved the idea of them using Krampus in the Grimm universe, and that he didn't know what or who he really was (once he was no longer Krampus and was back to being a regular schmuck). It brought a new aspect to the mythos in general, and brought an interesting question of what do you do when someone doesn't know what or who s/he is, and can you really blame one aspect of a person's personality if another aspect of themselves is doing something outside of their knowledge or control. I suppose that bringing Krampus to the council's attention (once they knew who he was when he wasn't in his serial killer form) was the best thing that they could do under the circumstances, but it still doesn't mean that Nick won't have blood on his hands if the council decides to hill the guy (which they very well may do, seeing as how they were so willing to kill a child a couple of episodes ago when they didn't understand what was going on with the kid). Still, even if turning the guy over to the council means that they're going to kill him, I'm still glad that Nick didn't have to pull the trigger himself; I didn't like the idea of him having to do it cuz he felt like he had to, when he felt so conflicted about the whole thing.

But the fact that the guy who turns into Kramus ... shouldn't he be a little more worried about the fact that he knows this happens every year? And should he be able to hold down a job, or be able to pay for a mortgage, or remain married (if he is), or look like he is healthy and well-fed without someone stopping and piecing something together? I would have thought that maybe he would have been the first one to have pieced together the fact that there is something seriously wrong with the fact that he blacks out for three weeks every year, or that he ends up in random other parts of the country. If he has only been living in his current home for the past three years, was it cuz he had to move cuz he (or the police) figured out that there was something fishy about the fact that there were all of these murders going on during the time that he was blacked out? And if he had to move, would he have also had to get a new job? If so, what job is going to give him three weeks off every December (especially if he's new)? And if he hasn't been around long enough to get enough sonority to let him get that amount of time off, how is he able to hold down a job? I NEED SOME ANSWERS!!!!!!!

And I suppose that we know now that the writers really are going to continue to give Nick super powers that he will be able to use in later episodes. First, it was the super hearing. Now, it's the zombie abilities (which will stop him from being choked out by the crazies that want to try to kill him with their bare hands). I still want to know if this is something that happens to all Grimms (where they adapt to the things that happen to them so that they are more efficient killers), or if it's just something that happens to the people that are in Nick's famiy (I still like my idea that the Grimms started off being a mutation of a form of Wesen and that's why they are able to see Wesen in Woge form, and I think that I might be able to headcanon Nick going into zombie form (and even his sonic hearing) if I say that he is able to adapt to the things that happen to him that happen cuz of Wesen using their abilities on him).

Was I the only one who went, "::snort:: Of course Bud knows where the tallest tree is. He's a freaking beaver"? Bringing Bud into the episode just for that scene seemed a little bit sloppy to me, but I suppose that they may have needed something to move the plot along a little bit and make sure that the Scoobs were able to get the kids before they were eaten.

I also like the idea that Wu might be a Grimm that was put forth here. Wouldn't that be fantastic if he was? It makes me feel a little bit better that he's just on that side of being told everything that is going on. And who would suspect Wu of being a Grimm, what with him being the comedic sidekick to the Nick and Hank? It would make sure that he was able to help them out much more than they are aware of.

'Cold Blooded' -- Grimm 3x07


Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'll have to admit that I wasn't all that impressed with this episode. It actually bored me quite a bit and had me bored me pretty quickly (and I couldn't wait until it was over). It wasn't just that the MotW wasn't at all interesting to me, the legend of the alligators in the sewers isn't one that I think is altogether interesting. Maybe that might be different if I lived in another part of the country, a place where that bit of urban legend has taken more of a foothold? Or maybe it's just that I'm not all that interested in reptiles or stories that involve them. But then, it might have also been that the writing wasn't as strong as it could have been (even if I'm not all that interested in a particular bit of folklore, if the writing is strong, that can make a difference).

So, even while I was kind of disappointed with the folklore side of things, I was glad to get a bit more about what is going on with the captain and his whole working with the resistance thing. It was also nice to be able to get a look at who has now taken over as the crown prince (now that Eric is gone). I wasn't sure if they were going to show us who the new adversary of the captain was going to be, or if hey were going to have us wonder about it for a while. But the actor that they used, it doesn't matter what else I see him in now, I will always think of him as Wesley. That's just how it goes.

And the fact that not even Eric trusted this particular cousin of theirs makes me think that there is going to be some real bad news in store for Sean and all of the people that have joined forces with him. The fact that he's spying on Adiland doesn't necessarily mean anything (since I wouldn't have put something like that past Eric, or even Sean), but the fact that Sean is so super leery of him cuz Eric thought that he was untrustworthy (giving the impression that those who aren't trusted by those who are untrustworthy makes them even more dangerous, instead of having it be a case of the enemy of my enemy) makes it seem like the resistance is going to have even more trouble with the cousin than they did with Eric.

I still don't trust the idea that Eric is really dead, but I don't know why Eric would have gone into hiding (or why he would have let someone else take over the reins as the crown prince).

And speaking of Adalind ... it makes me wonder what's going on with the baby after seeing the pattern of the goo that she has to keep putting on her belly. To me it looked like a spider when she did it in this episode, and I wonder if there's any special significance to it. Maybe there might be? To my mind, it gives me an icky sort of feeling that there might be danger involved with it (like the baby might be a danger to other people).

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

"Almost Human"

I really didn't intend to get hooked on "Almost Human," but I kind of think that I have. I'm not entirely sure if it's helping the show or not that whenever Karl Urban is on screen, I keep going back and forth between when McCoy first met Kirk and when Éomer finds Éowyn on the Pelennor (a scene which still kills me, BTW. ETA: And I still love the fact that Aragorn and Gandalf are just standing around watching Éomer loose his mind over his sister, as though his grief is a fucking show. Way to go, guys).

There have been several times already where the show has made me giggle like a mad thing and have to rewatch whatever the scene was that made me giggle. I am kind of needing to give the writers a big hug for that fact, since so many shows out there are supposed to be funny, but I think that they're just dumb.

Also with the love for the writers? The way that they've played with the human v. robot thing. Of the two main characters, the one that's the android is played as being way more human, and the human character is played as being cut off from his feelings (and way more robotic ... and not able to interact with people all that well).

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

'The Golem' -- SH 1x10


Warning: Spoiler Alert

On one level, I'm really glad that we didn't have to wait that long to find out what happened with Jeremy (or to find out his name), but on the other hand ... that's not the way that I wanted things to go for him. I was wanting him to live a long time and be happy, not have everything go to crap for him. But if the coven used a sell on him to make his heart stop, there's at least hope that something may be done to wake him back up. Maybe, at some point, Ichabod will be able to get Jeremy so that he can wake up, and get Katrina out of Purgatory; and then, they can be a family. I want this to be the thing that happens ... even though I don't think that it will. The three of them are completely boned.

And it seems that the captain is really beginning to believe what is going on with Ichabod and Allie, and with the town itself. It's obvious that he doesn't like the idea that he's probably just as boned as they are, but at least he's on board with heping them, and that makes me happy on the inside. Also that makes me happy on the inside ... that the Sin Eater is now willing to help them out as well. The more time that goes on, the more it seems that the people that are supposed to be around them are the ones who have been pulled to them (for one reason or another).

But now that we know that Jeremy was put in the ground before he was able to have a family of his own, there doesn't seem much chance that the Sin Eater is actually a descendant of Ichabod's ... unless I was able to somehow handwave what we know so far and headcanon the idea that Jeremy was able to get himself free of what the coven did (since he's apparently so powerful), but I don't think that anything like that will have happened.

So, Ichabod is supposed to do something to give up Abbie's soul to He Who is Horned. I see a bit of a problem with this, in that I don't see how anyone can get someone else's soul damned. From everything that I've ever seen before (whether in fiction, folklore, religion, or anything else), people are only able to damn themselves, or give their own souls away to the Above or the Below. If he were able to capture it, and keep it inside of some kind of trap before giving it to our Horned Overlord, that might be something different, but I'm not sure that that's what we're talking about in this instance. Seems much more like the Horns That Must Not Be Named would want Abbie free somewhat (instead of in some confined box or trap) so that he would be able to torment her to his pleasure ... but then, again, he might be able to do that if she were boxed and wrapped with a bow. But maybe they're going to be doing something other than that, and as long as they get the logic of it down (and stick to it), I don't think that I'd have a problem with whatever it is that they come up with.

Monday, December 9, 2013

'Stories We Tell Our Young' -- Grimm 3x06


Warning: Spoiler Alert

Well, I have to give to the writers on this episode for actually having Nick go to Monroe and Rosalee and ask them a question about Wesen stuff (unlike what they've been doing with him and the whole "how do they know that I'm a grimm" thing). But I seem to get the impression that whoever wrote this episode couldn't help zirself and had to have Monroe and Rosalee go all confusing with the informations (and make sure that even though the question was actually asked this time, we still are no closer to getting any clearer idea of what the answer is than when we were when they first walked into the shop).

I almost want to say that we could use the captain as proof that a Wesen and a ... I can't remember the term for "normal schmuck," but that ... could have a baby, and the baby might be at least a little bit Wesen, but I'm not sure that he would be the best of examples. Even if the royals aren't Wesen (by the strictest use of the term), I don't get the idea that they're entirely human either. I almost get the impression that they're almost like Grimms, where they can't woge the way a Wesen would, but without the Grimm abilities. So, maybe they're something between Juliette and Nick in terms of what they are physically.

I'm really hoping that this whole thing doesn't come between Monroe and Rosalee, since they are so good together. I hope that they both realize that the other did what s/he felt like was the right thing to do (even if those things might have seemed like they were in opposition to each other). I want the two of them to stay together forever and ever and ever. Word.

Also, it was completely fantastic that Juliette was helping Nick to write in his Book of Shadows (or whatever fandom is calling it ... that just happens to be what I'm calling it). Like I said before, it's kind of amazing to see that she's jumped in feet first with all of this, and that it isn't scaring her away from Nick. I know that I'm in the minority on this one, but I like her, and I want the two of them to stay together to make fat little Grimm babies. It was also kind of fantastic to have her on the case on this one, what with her background. Sure, she's an animal doctor, but it would still give her a bit of footing when trying to help the gang figure things out when it comes to medical stuff.

It was interesting to see the writers use something this week that didn't have anything to do with the Wesen, but seemed to be something that the Wesen were kind of afraid of (like a boogeyman ... other than Grimms that is).

And I'm curious as to what the counsel is thinking about Nick. Dude said that Nick wasn't like the other Grimms that they have come across, but that doesn't give us a clue as to whether that's good or bad (though, I think that we're supposed to think that it might be a good thing). Maybe Nick's growing reputation as a "good" Grimm will get him even more allies in the Wesen world ... and maybe that will help the captain in taking down the royals.

Speaking of the captain ... I am so looking forward to watching him be a badass. I have a feeling that his family has underestimated him up to this point, and I think that they're going to get boned cuz of it. Oh, family. You had your chance to play nice. Too late.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

'Holy Terror' -- SPN 9x09


Warning: Spoiler Alert

Fuck you, Show. Why do you keep taking people away from me? LEAVE THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS ALONE!! I don't know why the writers of Show keep wanting to hurt me, but they do. They want to rip out my insides, and instead of walking away from the abusive relationship like any rational person would, I keep coming back and telling them that I would like to have another.

The feels are threatening to destroy me. I didn't expect that I would have such feels over the guy, but I do, and I want something awful to happen to Gadriel ... something awful bad like whoa.

However, I will say that I did let out a slight squee when it was reveled that we have actually been dealing with Gadriel all of this time, but that comes from the fact that I have used Gadriel in the first book of the series that I'm currently writing (and it was kind of cool to see someone else use him as well).

That being said, I do not like the fact that he was being used by Metatron to do his dirty work (now that he's not able to use Cas anymore), cuz now that we know a little bit more about what's going on with Gadriel, it seems like he's actually not a bad guy (and that he's being manipulated by Metatron to do his evil bidding). I get the feeling that he wouldn't have done what he did, and he wouldn't be doing anything else in the near future cuz of Metatron if he wasn't so desperate for the other angels to forgive him for what he thinks that he did. It's a bogus wrap, since it seems to me that he was destined to fail, but he's been carrying this weight on his shoulders for all of these years, and Metatron is completely using that to his advantage (cuz he's a bastard).

I would love, love, love if Cas was able to take back what Gadriel did, but I doubt that it's going to happen. There's already been so much of that this season that I have the feeling that the writers are going to make this one stick just to make it that much more gut wrenching (which makes me hate and love them). But now that it has happened, I want to know who is going to take Kevin's place, and if s/he is going to be someone who is going to be down with the Winchesters. It was kind of luck (in a way) that Kevin became an honorary Winchester (both in his mind and in their minds), but that doesn't mean that it's going to happen that way with someone else.

And you know what else, this would also be kind of a perfect time for them to actually explore what the hell happened with Chuck. Cas mentioned it once last season (it was last season, right?), and it hasn't been mentioned since. I'm really surprised that it hasn't bothered them at all, since they were buddies with him, and they know something would have had to've happened to him for Kevin to get tapped for his duties.

Also, speaking of Cas ... him taking Theo's grace and becoming an angel again ... you know what I would absolutely love? If we come to find out that angels can only ever really function with their own grace, and if they take someone else's, it's not only like trying to make something fit inside a container that is too small and the wrong size, it will eventually lead to angel goo all over all of the walls. I want this to only be a temporary fix, and he will eventually have to get back his own grace from Metatron to be right and whole (and a real boy).

Sunday, December 1, 2013

'El Cucuy' -- Grimm 3x05



Warning: Spoiler Alert

I would really like to know what the hell is going on with Nick's mom, cuz I have a feeling that there is far more going on than what Nick is suspecting right now. I'm also wondering why it is that she got into contact with him at all, since it seemed like she was going to bail and not come back into his life again (not now that she had the coins). And I'm kind of torn as to whether or not she actually cared about him at all. The way that she said that he was just like his father sounded so much like a cut down of both of them that it made me think that she planned her husband's death (as well as the death of her friend that everyone thought was her), and not just cuz it might have made people think that she was dead (and possibly get some heat off of her from all of the enemies that it seems that she has made over the years). I don't get the feeling that she has felt guilty about not being in his life all of this time, and she had only gotten in contact with him before cuz she had found out that the coins were in his possession. ::shakes fist at his mom::

I'm also getting the feeling that Juliette is going to be the go to girl when it comes to research. She really seems to dig it (the way a little kid would dig going to the park or getting ice cream), but sometimes she seems to dig it in almost a scary sort of way. The way that she went after the IP addy that the email from his mom came from ... that was kind of freaky, cuz she seemed so manic about trying to find out what the hell was going on (even if it might have come back to bite her in the ass, since (for all we know) the email might not have come from his mom at all, and it might have been one of the royals (or someone we haven't encountered yet) trying to do something sneaky). Still, I completely stand by what I was thinking about her last season (in that she would be a fantastic addition to the Scooby gang, and the best mommy to baby grimms ever (as well as a pretty good grimm SO)).

It seems like Nick maybe should have mentioned before that he had seen his mom again (and that she was still alive), as well as the fact that being a grimm is hereditary, since those are things that might be kind of important to their future together ... even if he hasn't really had the time to tell her just yet, and it may have slipped his mind with everything else that has been going on (like being turned into a zombie and killing a dude).

And can I just say how much I completely adored the dinner scene? Cuz I did. It was one of my most favorite of all the scenes of the entire show. Finally, all of the Scoobs are in the fight together, just like they should have been the entire time.

'The Good, the Bad and the Baby' -- Castle 6x10


Warning: Spoiler Alert

First of all ... writers ... Oxford comma. Seriously. It's your friend. The Oxford comma is only one of the best punctuation marks ever. Why? Cuz if you invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin to your party, what you are actually doing is inviting two strippers who also happen to be JFK and Stalin (not that you invited strippers, JFK, and Stalin as three different things). So, please, start using it. It will make me immensely happy on the inside.

I suppose that it was kind of natural that Castle might take some of his previous experiences and bring them into his current life (even if he's dealing with a different person than he was with Alexis's mom). I will give it to Beckett that she at least seemed like she would be willing to be the mom when/if the two of them have kids of their own. But I wonder if she would have even wanted to have kids in the first place if the idea hadn't been put in her head by the supposed time traveler. She doesn't exactly seem like the type who would want to be a mom (a step-mom type, maybe, but not necessarily a bio mom herself). She's always kind of struck me as the type who puts work on the front burner, even though she does love Castle. And when you put work on the front burner that way, it isn't always the best for having a family.

That being said, it's quite possible that if she really decides that she wants to go all in with the whole family things that she would at least try to do her best ... even if her best might not always be completely right. Hell, the way that she treats Castle so much of the time makes me kind of wonder if she wouldn't sometimes need someone to slap her upside the head when it comes to the kiddies as well (since she can be so all about herself, and kind of missing of the point ... to the point that it almost seems like she's doing it on purpose).

Poor Ryan. He really is all thumbs when it comes to babies, isn't he? But I have the feeling that things will be different when it's his own baby, and not just cuz he's going to love the bugger like all get out. It seems like he'll try really hard to get as close to right as he possibly can when it's time. He's just a sweet boy, and I really need to pinch those little cheeks of his ... hard. And if I didn't know any better, I'd almost think that not!Cosmo was doing it on purpose, crying to mess with Ryan's poor little mind. It certainly seems like the way to go to me.