u/kellatrix

Hi, everyone. I’m sure this will be a controversial post, but it needs to be made. I’m a frequent lurker in this sub and a first time poster, and I have a gripe. In my experience, this isn’t a Rogue sub; it’s a Romy sub.

I don’t hate Romy at all. There are plenty of comics where I enjoy their dynamic, like Kelly Thompson’s Mr. and Mrs. X. But there’s an irritating pattern here of people dismissing and even outright hating periods when Rogue isn’t with Gambit, and worse, claiming that it’s out of character whenever she isn’t with Gambit. I’m not specifically talking about eras when she was with someone other than Gambit. I’m also referring to eras when she was single.

As a character, Rogue predates Gambit by a decade, and in my opinion, the majority of her strongest writing took place before she and Gambit ever met. Yet I rarely ever see discussion here about the ’80s, before Rogue and Gambit’s relationship began. Maybe it’s because that was a long time ago, but I also notice widespread dismissiveness of more recent eras when Rogue chose to walk away from Remy and focus on herself: namely X-Men Legacy and the post-Legacy, pre-marriage era. When you bring up those periods around here, especially Legacy (which I and many others consider Rogue’s best run in the 21st century), you usually get a mixed to negative reaction.

Do we only care about Rogue when she’s with Gambit around here? If so, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but it makes the sub name misleading. I’d like a place to discuss Rogue and Rogue herself without having to worry about trolls who only value her relationship with Gambit and don’t care about, or even despise, Rogue when she isn’t attached to him.