Originally Posted by
AppleJ
Well, I actually like getting into the emotional headspace of my characters so these stories work for me a lot.
Everyone gets depressed sometimes, even those who project a lot of confidence and seem extremely powerful. In fact, many people who project a lot of confidence don't actually feel that confident at all and act that way to protect themselves and survive. What nobody wants to admit is that it has a toll.
Needing someone for emotional support doesn't make you weak. Everyone needs someone in their life they can depend on. I would even say projecting the "need no one, show no emotion" type of male character is seriously damaging to represent as an ideal expectation of men in media. There's a reason the rate of suicide is so high in men. No one can live up to that. It's not a good thing and nobody wants to talk about it.
Anyway ...
While Gambit has been a womanizer, I don't think he still is. At least not in the sense of meaning to follow through with something. As an act and a face he puts on to get what he wants and play angles - totally. But we've seen him go through some major emotional ups and downs in his time - regret/depression about his involvement in the Morlock Massacre, sadness after breaking up with women he loves (Belle, Rogue), more regret/self-hate after becoming Death and betraying the X-Men to go back to Sinister. Where does a character that's believable as a human put all that emotion baggage? And don't those experiences change them?
I guess I've had enough of life by now to say that they do. I am not the person I was 10 or 20 years ago. Seeing that reflected in comics makes me only love them more.