Dandesun

I can also believe that experiencing a 'psychic death' would be a decent compulsion for Charles to take Hank's formula that gives him the ability to walk and the inability to use said mutant powers. I rather like the concept of young, jaded Charles. For one thing, it gave us that rather beautiful scene between Stewart and McAvoy. "We need you to hope again." And, after all, Charles was also rather rusty at using his powers in DOFP, so his methods were probably born from that as well. First Class, to me, was a tragic love story between Charles and Erik. Erik, so damaged and scarred from his youth, with his 'peace was never an option' and Charles, idealistic about the promise of what mutants could do together. To have it all go so horribly bad, not just with Shaw leading the way with his 'we must rule' concept and having some of Charles' recruits by into that after the way they felt they were treated by the CIA, particularly after Shaw attacked... and then to have Erik go that way as well... Charles' Dream is absolutely idealistic but it's a noble dream and I like that they show him as fallible AND wavering in the belief of his own ideals. Erik never wavers which can be considered something of a weakness. He doesn't consider the idea that peace may very well BE an option and Lord, his tenacious beliefs cause all sorts of problems in DOFP. Charles turned his back on all of it after First Class and had to come back to the Dream. I did rather like that take on it.

Johnny Dangerously and My Blue Heaven spring immediately to mind for me. Favorites for the whole family.

So much this. You've got Eric saying 'There's nothing here for you.' and then he still stands there and answers all of her questions about his biz. Eric, it's time to go Spanish Inquisition on this bitch (it's not like she'd expect it, no one does. See what I did there?) You don't owe her answers to anything. For that matter, her nosy questions about his every little movement is worse. Bitch, step off! He doesn't have to clear it with you if he wants to take a piss or get his reputation back or join Brady in snorting coke! Marlena doesn't have emotions. Lady Sinister gave them up for the sake of SCIENCE!!

Well, he froze everyone in an early scene in X-2. I'm trying to remember anything that Charles particularly did with his telepathy in the first movie... other than talk in people's heads. He seemed to have more than a little fun with Logan when they first got him to the school. "Over here... follow me... this way!" As Logan sniffs the air and runs around in sweatpants. I think one of the problems with Charles' power is that it's not very... theatrical. I mean, when it comes down to it, most of the characters have powers that really just require them to pose dramatically. Fassbender joked about his jazz hands and constipated look to portray Magneto using his powers. And McAvoy termed his move as 'fingering myself.' There's really not a whole hell of a lot you can do with telepathy as a power unless you commit to battles on the astral plane... which would actually be really cool to portray but Xavier's never gone up against another telepath in the movies. (I honestly don't know what Phoenix was supposed to be in X3. All she did was stare at people and they'd disintegrate. And when she 'killed' Charles, all they did there was stare at each other until he discorporated.) Having Charles take over people's minds and speak through them the way he did in DOFP was actually, I thought, a pretty good way for him to use his power. He was stuck and couldn't get to where he could confront Erik or Mystique himself so he had to come up with another way. And it is still younger Xavier so I can buy that he's not put the strict code of conduct regarding telepathic ethics on himself yet.

If you want Todd and Kyle talking about Rebecca, I'd advise you to read Cimz' trilogy. I'd advise anyone to read it anyway. I believe it's the second in the triad "Diamond in the Sky" that has Todd and Kyle interacting and Rebecca comes into it. To be honest, I thought she did it so well that I never felt the need to go there myself. In fact, Fish is also present in some chapters and he and Kyle have a moment or two there as well. The three stories are "Over the Candlestick" "Diamond in the Sky" and "The Green Goblin." They're at Fanfic.net and I recommend them highly. :)

Early X-Men Charles used to mind-wipe and mentally block people on a regular basis in the comics. It was a fairly common occurrence that the X-Men would get into a great big public fight, defeat the enemy and the Charles would mind-wipe every innocent bystander in order to 'preserve the secret of the X-Men.' I think when Claremont took over is when Charles really started to live by certain ethics regarding his powers. That being said, he's had his moments. One of the biggest events in the 90s was... Fatal Attractions, I believe. Where the X-Men needed to take the fight to Magneto. Again. He'd been out of commission since they split up the X-books into Uncanny and Adjectiveless and Fatal Attractions came about... maybe two years later. Magnus had basically gone insane again or whatever... I'd have to dig into it and find out what the deal was. I know he crashed Illyana's funeral (and got Piotr/Colossus to switch sides... Piotr was something of a mess since Illyana was his sister and all that.) Anyway, the big moments of that particular cross over was Magneto finally having enough of Logan and ripping the adamantium out of his skeleton and Xavier deciding that that was the absolute last straw and completely mind-wiped Magneto as a result. Charles has gone through some shit in the comics since then. There was Onslaught, which was a result of Charles mind-wiping Erik and their personalities meshing into a Big Bad Awful. I know he went through some crap after I stopped reading for awhile. Charles is currently dead because Scott killed him when possessed by the Phoenix Force (Marvel writers do not know how to write the Phoenix, says I... Avengers vs X-Men which resulted in the Phoenix 5 and Scott winding up going crazy when he collected all of the fragments from the others was... well, it was shite.) The next Uncanny is supposed to start a 'Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier' story that leads into a major AXIS cross over (the Red Skull has stolen dead Charles' brain and is using it to be a more complete bastard than ever before) so Charles' mental capacities remain important to the universe at large even if the man himself is dead. Death means nothing in the comics. Comic books and soap operas have a Revolving Door of Death. And, like I say, being dead didn't keep the Red Skull from stealing Xavier's brain and implant it in himself in order to use the mental abilities of Charles to increase anti-mutant sentiment and... you know, comics are the only reason I can even type a sentence like that.

Marlena is one of my favorite characters ever, But not for the reasons the writers want. I don't even want to call her Marlena anymore. She's Lady Sinister. Fashioned after http://wallpoper.com/wallpaper/comics-marvel-349841 Mr. Sinister. Guys... you have to understand the brilliance of this character. You cannot take anything she says at face value. She has no morals. She has no compass. She exists solely to tempt, tease and torment everyone around her and she's magnificent. Everything that comes out of her mouth is engineered to get a specific response. I realize that this Marlena exists only in my head... but if you alter your perceptions to fit this, she's magnificent. The only thing missing is actually seeing her in her lab. "I would, if I could only free myself from this blasted so-called conscience that still pollutes me. ... If that is what is required for science to progress...then let me be a monster! Let me be a MONSTER!" SCIENCE!! The Saga of Jennifer and Daniel. I mean... I already had to watch Spain crash out of the World Cup... their golden generation, who has won an unprecedented three major tournaments in a row, not able to manage one goal in two games so far... I had to watch this shit as well? "But I love you!" "The earth has told me that a new patient is in the vicinity. Therefore, we must part for I must be available to bone her." "But I love you! You're the kindest, noblest, greatest man who ever lived!" "Don't forget to leave your key." Can I just say right now that all of these pictures of Jennifer that Daniel has been staring at for the past week (it feels like) completely throw me because I don't know who it is at first? I never see Jennifer smile and yet there she is, happy as a clam in photographs. I could like Photo!Jen. Too bad the walking, talking version is every inch a killjoy. (By the way, the earth speaks to Daniel because he's so fucking holy... and dirty.) Knowing that Sami totes knows about EJ/Abby made every single interaction today better. I don't feel that spoilers ruins soaps for me (I'm spoiler free in life... for good or ill... fiction is spoilerific) and, seriously, everything was better knowing that Sami knew. Oh, and for good measure... fuck you, Nicole.

I don't think anyone knows at this point. Plus, you've got that sliding scale of history to contend with for some. Magneto is a Holocaust survivor which puts him in his 80s at least. Sure, he was de-aged then re-aged but still... that's a specific time period and he is from that period. They used to have Xavier as a war vet from Korea but I don't think that' s been mentioned in decades. Forge was a Vietnam vet, major part of his backstory, guess how old that makes him? But the comics seem to get to a point where it's like 'Okay, they just don't age anymore.' They hit 26 and never age again, that's the universal age unless specifically stated otherwise.

Which echoed the iconic comic book cover where it has a poster of the X-Men with "APPREHENDED" or "SLAIN" plastered over each with a very old Wolverine and a Kitty that I think is supposed to be older as well. (It's a little harder to tell with her although Logan has graying temples so obviously is old there.) Every adaptation of DOFP that has been done has been made to reflect what the team of the moment is. In the cartoon, Rogue was dead even though in the comic she's not part of the team yet and when Rachel comes back in time and explains where she's from, Rogue has inner monologue wondering why Rachel has no idea who she is at all and questions her fate entirely. Well... sort of. Kitty was significantly younger than everyone when she joined and Rogue wasn't much older. There's always been some differentiation in age... to a point. With the original 5 they always had Bobby as the youngest and Hank as the oldest but the difference was maybe four years. Kitty, Piotr and Rogue were teenagers when they joined with Banshee being significantly older than everyone else in the Second Genesis crew (this was before they decided to make Logan pretty much immortal with his healing factor... at that time, he was just an asshole with claws who healed fast.) That being said, it's been kind of annoying to me the way they slice and dice the various teams. Call me an old softie but I like the original 5 remaining intact. It got really weird with the cartoon when you had Jean, Scott and Beast but then they introduced Angel later and he seemed completely new to everyone and then they brought Bobby in later still WITH a flashback of the original five... but, I guess everyone had forgotten about Warren being there since it was all 'Who's this hot winged dude?' I know I have to go into various adaptations knowing that they're going to be altered from comic continuity and that's fine. That continuity is, at this point, fifty years old so adjustments must be made. I just wish they'd have a firm grasp of that that continuity is. I like Evolution because they settled on what their world was. The movies... wow, they just went crazy with continuity all over the damn place and it didn't seem to matter from one film to another how anything or anyone related to each other. X-3 was obviously the worst of this but First Class fucked around with things, too. Movie!Magneto is such a fucking drama queen/attention whore. Seriously. And his big moves make no sense. I suppose moving a stadium is a good way to show off that he's uber powerful (much like his moving the Golden Gate Bridge in X-3.) Personally, I always thought that best example of how ridiculously powerful Magneto is was the way he broke out of prison in X-2... with just that little bit of iron, he completely decimated the prison, killed a whole slew of people, and escaped. That was hardcore. I was far less impressed with his moving bridges or stadiums about. Yes, yes, Erik. Your magnetic peen is bigger than everyone's.

They did it to Clint in order to facilitate Viki/Sloan once upon a time. I hate it when they play that card. It is the ultimate in lazy, biased writing.

Daniel Day-Lewis in Last of the Mohicans was brutally, painfully hot. Seriously, looking at him hurt he was so beautiful. I've been in love with Harrison Ford ever since 1977 when Han Solo entered my life. I will never, ever be sorry for this. For that matter, Indiana Jones is something right out of a fantasy, too. Temple of Doom is my absolute least favorite Indy movie (yes, I consider it to be worse that the Crystal Skull) but Harrison Ford is so hot at that point that I watch it anyway just for him. Holy crap that movie is bad, though. The Avenging Chrises are doing it for me big time these days. That's Hemsworth and Evans. Those boys are a pleasure to watch. I am in full on lust with Jeremy Irons' voice. Classics? I totally concur with Cary Grant and Fred Astaire. Astaire is pure fantasy, art deco musical romance. Basically, I want to be wearing those gowns and floating around the room in those arms. But Cary Grant? SWOON. Pure swoon.

The catfight was kind of fun. Eric shows more personality breaking that up and then talking to Sami then he does with his full on earnest, defrocked priest stuff. "Are you kidding me?! You're supposed to be grown-ups!" That cracked me up almost as much as Sami's dress. And, really, even if Eric doesn't have a leg to stand on with what he said to Sami I really, really like their sibling dynamic. He's more real with her than anyone else I've seen so far. Nicole, I'm getting tired of you. I'm glad Eric shut her down completely. Speaking of getting tired, I honestly fell asleep during the final bit of Daniel/Jennifer and whatever the hell that was. I woke up and had to run it back and still it didn't leave an impression except for 'Ew, they're kissing' at the end. Oh, and Jennifer's... um, "passionate" kisses to lead up to the icky making out? Lips clamped together, eyes squeezed shut... she looked like a 12 year old trying to kiss for the first time and not remotely looking forward to it. Rafe had, what, three beers and couldn't remember where he was? Lightweight. And he's going through quite the existential crisis right now. "I've let everyone down. I'm horrible at taking care of people." At least his hair is holding up. He's not pulling a Cristiano Ronaldo in the Brazilian humidity. See, Rafe? Things could be so much worse. Half of your family is either dead or in prolonged prison sentences on your watch but at least you're not getting your ass kicked by a bunch of ridiculously hot Germans. (This is something that will probably only last during World Cup but there's something to be said for that being a silver lining. "Hey, your life is in shambles but at least you don't have to deal with Die Mannschaft!") What else happened yesterday? Aside from an absolutely scintillating scoreless tie between Brazil and Mexico, that is. (Seriously. That game was amazing. Ochoa is a damned superhero and should have statues built of him all through Mexico.) Oh yes, more the of Abby Flashbacks to Sex with EJ story. Um... yeah. So aside from a fairly pretty bra... yeah. We're going to get one of these every day Abby's on up until the wedding that so obviously isn't going to happen, aren't we? I have to say that while EJ is, so far, one of the few characters I actively hate, I did enjoy him basically telling Abby that the only thing that matters to him is that he loves Sami and his family. Her utterly gob-smacked expression was all 'But... I let you into my lady-garden! How can you possibly prefer others over me when I let you into my lady-garden? My lady-garden is an enchanted glade and I let you in there! How can you possibly say you want that... other lady-garden that probably is filled with thistles and stinkweed... as opposed to mine, which is filled with jasmine and roses!! I don't even understand you!!"

I will say this about Tatum... despite Jupiter Ascending being pushed back, the stuff I've seen of him in it doesn't look puffy at all. Plus, the guy's a dancer. I think he'd be able to do LeBeau type moves. A lot of it depends on training... what will they have Remy be doing? They did the bo staff work in Origins which is a good start but Gambit is supposed to be highly dexterous (that whole thief thing) and is a guy who can literally dance around bullets and deflect them. Not just one or two... all of them. This is a guy who is fully capable of tangling with Wolverine. The question is... how are they going to write him? Because Marvel hasn't been particularly kind to the character for years. A lot of the current staff seem to resent him... which is kind of strange. Asmus' solo series of last year was a welcome change and Peter David has his hands on Remy now (all of which is good stuff) but for quite some time there he was languishing as nothing more than the loser point in a Rogue centered love triangle and, as far as that goes, the Remy/Rogue relationship hasn't been treated well since Claremont was writing X-Treme X-Men and that was in the early '00's!

Had anyone heard of Chris Hemsworth before they cast him as Thor? Had anyone heard of Tom Hiddleston before he got Loki? Cast the part; not the name. That being said... there simply was no way they could NOT use Patrick Stewart as Charles. Everything else was up in the air but Patrick Stewart not being Charles Xavier... no one in the fandom would have shown up if that were the case. I was never involved with the Avengers the way I was with X-Men. X-Men and the communities surrounding it in the 90s affected my real life, I have decades long relationships that exist because of the X-Men so they remain extremely important to me. But I've loved what they've done with the Avengers and I really wish that they'd take some time and devote it to the various X-characters. Storm, I think, is such an easy ticket as far as story goes but I just don't see Hollywood going for that, unfortunately. I mean, can you imagine Laverne Cox being cast... and maybe they do the whole storyline that introduces the Morlocks? Where Ororo is the leader of the X-Men who is deeply devoted to the preservation of life and due to her own struggles in her role in the X-men and protecting those she leads, is forced into a one on one duel with Callisto to take control of the Morlocks and save her team? Can you imagine them having the balls to have, not just a woman of color being the lead and LEADER of a superhero team but perhaps sewing the seeds of her romance with Forge who is Cheyenne (and a war vet with prosthetic limbs?) Sidenote: I loved me some Storm/Forge. The Windrider and the Maker. For that matter, I loved me some Banshee, too. And I remain deeply disappointed that they never went there with Emma and Sean during their run as headmasters at Gen X. They would have been hot.

I'm willing to give Tatum a chance. Gambit is very, very important to me but I'll give it a chance. There have been other casting questions that have turned out wonderfully... and others not so wonderfully. I do think it's time to give Wolverine a rest. I get that he's recognizable and popular even if he's so over-saturated it's not even funny. The X-Men, however, have always been about more than Wolverine. They've been about more than just one character. In their heyday, they were a family... a family that shifted and changed. The roles change, characters go on sabbatical, they get injured, they retire, they come back. I mean when I first started reading the comics (in 1990) they had just brought all the X-Men back together after decades of being apart. (Not including Excalibur who were still hanging out on the British Isles.) But before that... I mean, you go from the Original 5; to the 2nd Genesis team; the Phoenix team; the post-Dark Phoenix team; Rogue gets added after Days of Future Past; the Mutant Massacre changes the team significantly; then they're the underground/criminal team; Fall of the Mutants leads to the Australian Outback team which is a fairly sturdy line up until the Seige Perilous story that scatters everyone to the four winds only to be brought back together (with new players) for X-Tinction Agenda then the Shi'ar/Skrull storyline that brings Professor Xavier back THEN the Muir Island Saga which brought everyone back to where I started reading (I have spent a lot of time and money on back issues over the years) when everyone was in the newly rebuilt mansion again. You can say a lot about Chris Claremont but he was the absolute driving force for a good twenty years of story for the X-Men and he was the king of the slow burn sideplot that burst into a major storyline. What's more, his stories were layered. It's all well and good to talk about doing the Dark Phoenix story but you can't tell that story without the stuff that leads up to it... you have to give a shit about Jean, you have to see what becoming Phoenix was all about first -- that she was an enormous power for GOOD... you have to give a shit about her relationship with Scott, with Charles... I'm sorry but Logan's crush means diddly squat in the long run there. It was never a major plot in that story. Ever. Logan crushed hard on Jean. She was mildly attracted to him but she loved. Scott. And then, you've got the corruption of Phoenix which leads to Dark Phoenix and all that that entailed. It mattered because Jean mattered and it wasn't fucking Logan who pulled the trigger like in stupid X3. It was JEAN. But they'd never tell that story these days anyway, not with Emma Frost as the current sweetheart of the X-Men franchise. I enjoyed the movie DOFP but despite my Logan fatigue I understand why they went with him rather than Kitty. Kitty's shift in the books mattered because she was this 13 year old girl who was scared of Nightcrawler and just learning to use her powers and suddenly she's speaking with a different voice, excited to see Nightcrawler because he'd been dead for years in her future and telling the X-Men of this horrible future. Plus, we can't have them introduce Rachel Summers, the daughter of Phoenix and Cyclops. Not when there's hunky Logan and his man pain over Jean! That's the thing I always loved about the X-Men; how many layers there were. The characterization and the storylines had depth. And, no, I can't forgive the movies for taking Rogue, a brash bruiser with fire and heart to spare and turning her into a whiny teen girl who's mutant power seemed to be audibly swallowing. I gave up on Rogue/Gambit being handled well years ago. My crack pairing that will never happen is Gambit/Jean. Shut up and leave me to my fanfiction!! As for Storm... Laverne Cox would be an AMAZING Ororo.

Perhaps she should invest in earphones.

I'm strictly Marvel anymore. Let's see... All-New X-Factor All-New X-Men Captain Marvel Ms. Marvel X-Men Uncanny X-Men Thor: God of Thunder Mighty Avengers Loki: Agent of Asgard Black Widow I'm waiting for this Uncanny Avengers story to end... I'm slogging through it and not at all happy about it. Thinking about picking up New Avengers because I want some Doctor Strange in my life. Oh, and the Rocket Raccoon solo that's coming out because Skottie Young is the artist and I love him. I cut my teeth on the X-men so I tend to gravitate towards them. Seriously, I only started collecting again because of Gambit getting a solo (which I quite enjoyed) so I definitely follow him (Peter David's writing him now so I have lots of fun with that one) but I also need my Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde, dammit.

I cannot stand Wolverine. I thought he was overdone in the 90s. Little did I know. My Wolverine fatigue has finally caught up with the movies. Jackman's superhuman charisma did a lot to keep me on his side but now I'm just like... meh, more fuckin' Wolverine? No thanks. I also do not like the current incarnation of Emma Frost. I loved her during Gen X but ever since she's been made into diamond and Morrison turned her into her personal fantasy (oh, she's British now? Okay, whatever) I just can't with her anymore. And how many times are they going to try to retcon her backstory? Oh she was drunk and/or high when she was 'evil'? Oh, she was abused by Sebastian Shaw and fearful of him so she did whatever he wanted? No. She was evil, she wanted power, she loved it. Then she woke up to discover that she didn't cut it as far as a benefactor goes and decided to side with Charles and try his way. I'm a big Jean fan and it ticks me off that Emma's role in the corruption of Phoenix is ignored. I used to love Rogue. I have no idea who she even is anymore. It doesn't help that I've dug out my Essential X-Men volumes and waded through literal years of the Rogue I loved. Say what you will about Claremont, he wrote CHARACTERS. I miss that Rogue.

Yesterday was exhausting. Not on Days. In the World Cup. Seriously, I'm actually thankful for that Nigeria/Iran scoreless tie because I needed some sort of breather between the euphoria of the Germans having their way with Portugal (not a Cristiano Ronaldo fan and I immensely enjoy that every time he goes up against Germany he just hates his entire life for about 90 minutes - yesterday had the added humiliation of his hair not holding up in the sweltering humidity of Brazil) and the sheer insanity of the US/Ghana game... US scores in the first 30 seconds, then everyone seems to get hamstring injuries, and the Ghana equalizes and then we manage to pull ahead again. And then we have to just hold the hell on and hope the rest of our team's hamstrings stay intact. Really, all I wanted to do after that was come home and drink. I felt like Rafe. Except I didn't bone anyone with blue streaks in their hair afterwards. I did WATCH Days but nothing much really registered except for 'things are happening... I can't believe we finally beat Ghana... people are talking... Müller got a hat trick... why does cocaine seem to not affect Theresa at all? ... Ronaldo was sad and it was amazing.' I'm still liking JJ and Paige. This is uncharted territory since I don't think I've actively liked a teen romance since the 90s. I also agree that it's inconceivable that JJ is treated like this pariah by girls his age. He's hot. He's got notoriety. He's actively trying to change his life for the better. That should be catnip to the teen girls. It's astounding to me that they're all like 'Oh. God. THAT guy? LOSER!!' It furthers my opinion that Paige really is smarter than everyone else. With the sheer amount of coke that Theresa and Brady seem to be doing, it's astounding to me that Brady is the only one actively wired. And while I do like Theresa the Evil Pixie, I find I like JJ more so I'm not at all happy when she decides to torment him. Look what has happened! I've become protective over a character. This troubles me... But not as much as the fact that Belgium is literally riddled with top flight players and can't seem to manage to score against Algeria.

Besides that... art doesn't automatically make you sophisticated. It just means you like art. And there's always the question of what sort of art one might know. It's easy to toss out Picasso or Rembrandt or Gauguin to appear that you know stuff. And, really, did Abby take one course? That's hardly immersive. Plus, maybe look at the lives of some of these artists because they weren't exactly Puritans who engaged in 'respectable' relationships. They had lovers, many of them had several lovers. Klimt was a well known womanizer and he didn't marry every woman he slept with. And EJ isn't an artist. If he takes on a mistress (which really is NOT what he did with Abigail) it's not like he's going to be painting her and immortalizing her. And, come on, isn't the European stereotype that a man can be married and carry on with mistresses aplenty? Look at the President of France. For someone who is supposed to be sophisticated and worldly, Abigail fails on all counts. She's like the girl in high school who found the local art house theater and considers herself worldly because she watched a movie with subtitles. In Marlena news: She was pushing buttons and pulling strings like crazy with Sami. Clearly, Sami is her preferred test subject. How will Subject: Daughter, Younger react to this stimuli? How about this one? Sami is so obviously Marlena's experiment in morality and it's been a decades long test by the looks of it. Every interaction is Marlena going 'Dance, Monkey! Dance!' The only thing I liked about the Rafe/Daniel interaction was when Rafe realized that if he had encouraged Gabi to come forward about the Melanie thing, then Nick wouldn't have been able to hold that over her head and it wouldn't have been one more thing for him to use against her so that she would feel trapped and shoot him. Whether or not any of that is actually true is beside the point. Rafe strikes me as a decent guy (and it's not shoved down my throat the way Daniel the Second Coming is) and his realization about the wrong steps he took and that he's carrying that around with him right now is, what I think, really defines a Good Guy character. He can make mistakes, he can make HUGE mistakes, but he sees them, recognizes them, and bears the burden of them. Rafe may not be the most exciting character in the world and I have no doubt he's as hypocritical as the next person (it's a soap and soap writers don't have the capability for depth anymore) but, as it stands, he's exactly what I need from a Good Guy character.

EJ Daniel Jennifer

I actually quite like Rafe. He strikes me as a truly decent guy and he's not at all hard to look at. There's a sincerity about him. Soaps have such a hard time writing good guys anymore, it's a real shame because they are very very necessary to the canvas at large. Truly good guys are, apparently, hard to write and hard to play but they are just so needed.

I confess I FF'd the never-ending good-bye scenes with Gabi yesterday. I have no real investment in her relationship with her daughter so I didn't feel any need to watch her weep at the kid since she's leaving and it really doesn't matter to me. Once Julie got her last parting shot in it was all FF from there for the Goodbye Gabi - Don't Take So Long to Leave Tour. At least it's finally over. Right? Unless they spend the next month or so having Will and Sonny talk about what a tragedy it is for Gabi to be gone and they'll do everything they can to keep her in Arianna's present or whatever. ANYWAY... I have to agree about Theresa and Brady at this point. I, too, think it's bizarre (and kind of hilarious) that Brady is constantly looking worn out and wrecked after all of this alleged partying while Theresa looks like she's had a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast. And really, what was the point of that ridiculous, colored on "tattoo"? Was it just so Victor could spit out "I'm not the one with the tacky tattoo" because, if so, I'm sort of okay with it. Despite it's appearance of having been colored on with Tarte lip crayons. Is there a point to any of this? What's more, I don't understand Theresa's situation. She gave a decent enough monologue about her usage of drugs to keep her going 'smooth as glass' -- maintaining an even keel, if I understand it right. So does she have so little self-esteem that she uses drugs as a means of keeping men addicted and with her? What IS her goal with Brady? Hell, what was her goal with JJ? Is it power? Need? A combination? I don't understand the purpose of it all. At this point, it's clear that Brady is going to get his act together and leave which will make Theresa more desperate to keep him, which is kind of too bad because it seems they get along fine without the drugs. I just feel I'm missing a huge chunk of the story and motivation here. Victor wandering around town telling various people off was delightful. Just delightful.

I loved Max and Luna but I also loved Max and Gabrielle. I also loved Max and Tina and Max and Megan. I was a Max-phile for a good long time. As much as I did love Max/Luna (despite their not aging well as a pairing for me) I never, for a moment, thought that Luna was IT for Max. I knew it was always Gabrielle who was his number one. When I started watching the show regularly, it was all about the Tina-Cord-Max-Gabrielle foursome. Such glamour! Such romance! Such HAIR! Tina and Gabrielle had manes that would make an Andalusian proud (Google it, you'll get it) and, of course, there was always some Dorian/Viki shenanigans going on. You know what other pairing I liked? Gabrielle and Michael Grande. I'm fairly sure they were involved due to the baby switch that ended up with Gabrielle going to prison... with Michael's wife Alicia dying in a car accident and Brenda McGillis pregnant with, I think, Steve Holden's baby after he bought it via explodey wedding cake. And, dude, that previous sentence... 80s soaps were a crazy, addictive awesome freakshow. I just remember Michael sweeping Gabrielle up into his arms and her hair swirling about like a cape... oh! Good times, good times.

The best thing about Nicole blaming God for her actions was Eric's utterly gob-smacked expression at it. It really was just 'Are you seriously playing this card?!' Nicole was so unbelievably desperate that it rounded into farce. "God made me do it! No! Food poisoning! I ate a bad clam! I was on my period! I had skipped my period! Dark wizards forced me to repeatedly not tell you the truth! I swear!! It was Voldemort!!" Here's the thing about the Daniel/Jennifer fight... I honestly could not care less who was in the right. Daniel's an idiot because he kept giving Nicole chances and his insistence that he would have told Eric doesn't mean much when he never actually did AND Nicole was all set to avoid and run away again when she went and found Eric after Jennifer spilled it. She had run to Eric all 'Daniel has gone insane!!' and got the handy-dandy soap opera trope of 'tickets leaving right now out of this tiny regional city that has an international airport... what?' They were out of there because Daniel couldn't stand by and monitor the situation due to the convenient 12 car pile up (that involved absolutely no one in Salem - how is that even possible? I'm convinced it was Matchbox cars.) that required him to save lives.. Jennifer whining about how Nicole's lies were hurting Daniel was abhorrent but, you know what, she told Eric the truth and Eric deserved to know the truth. Sure, this is now more about Daniel feeling like his woman thinks he's amoral (he is) or easily manipulated (he is) than anything to do with Eric or what happened to him but I'm just happy that Eric knows the truth about what Kirsten did and has that proof. I know it's way too much to expect to see him go to Brady with said proof to clear his name so Brady will, maybe, stop hating him but I live to dream. While I don't care if Daniel/Jennifer are together, it just grieves me that it so obviously happened so that Eve can get shot immediately at Daniel's junk. I mean, God forbid they maybe let her find some footing in Salem before Dr. Inappropriate starts sniffing around her lady garden.