Jamey-Maria

Yes send a 15 year old with mental health issues who has recently come out of a clinic to gaol. That'll solve everything.

Fair enough point I just personally don't buy it. With some exceptions I think a lot of the things you feel at the beginning are chemical and tend to come and go. Whether you feel a strong bond or connection I don't think a couple of weeks or a month is enough time for you to really know enough about someone to be sure you're "meant to be." I never said you need a long history but a substantial amount of time would be required. A lot of people do feel that way early on, I never said it was unrealistic but it's idealised and most of them don't stay together anyway. Proof of that is the number of h&a characters that date someone and then find out they are totally manipulative, or they lied, or they're violent. Although it appears to have come out of no where it makes sense if you're looking at it through the characters' perspective. They thought it was fabulous and they would be "together forever" before they realised they didn't know enough about them. I'm getting off track now but I just wanted to clear that up, and my point was that Jack and Martha have known each other together and apart long enough to really know each other and that they're in love.

That's a really good point about the popular couples and the screentime. And I don't know what everyone else thinks but a friendship for me doesn't get as tiresome as a couple. Not to mention the show is overflowing with couples, and they need to hone in and focus on the friendships more to mix it around a bit. I really like the idea of them both getting a storyline together. And as much as I love Roman's house, if something were to happen to it for a couple of weeks and it were to become inhabitable, I definitley would not object to him having to stay with Miles. One thing I have to say. Don't ever get the both of them involved in a love triangle over someone. THAT would tick me off, (although if they were the two wanting to be together I could make an exception. )

They need more screentime! I absolutely love any scene these two are in together. Their friendship seems so effortless and EVERY conversation they have ends up being amusing for one reason or another. There is definitley something very Ying Yang about them. Roman's some what serious and strong personality compliments Miles kinks and quirks perfectly. I was re watching scenes with them from the beginning of 2008 and I really loved how Roman helped him out when he remembered who he was. PLEASE give them more screentime. I beg of whoever has the power. PLEASE.

I completely agree with everything skykat said. This is one ship I've never let go of and even though there was some times when it felt like the writers got tediously carried away with them, I always really believed that they loved each other- which is not something a lot of couples convince me of. I absolutely loved their initial chemistry when they first got together (as with most couples it's really easy to do) they were fresh and and fun and easily watchable. There was even a bit of snark in there. The problem with the storyline definitley came with the drawn out will they/won't they (a storyline that hasn't annoyed me so much since Ross and Rachel) but that said, because of the time it took them to get together, when they say they've waited so long or that after all they've been through I believe them. There are some other couples on the show that have used that term "we belong together" or "we're soulmates" after a few minutes and all I can do is laugh. With Jack and Martha, a lot of their history substantiates what they say. I can't be bothered to touch on the subject of Sam's part in their reunion but I have to say what I really liked about them getting back together was that it wasn't just one of those ott moments of passion characters seem to fall into where their "lust" or whatever overrides their head. They talked and then they decided rationally that it was time. And the later part of 2008 has definitley been a massive defining point in their relationship. I absolutely love the cancer storyline and the effects resulting from it. Everything has seemed so natural and mellow between them for the last few months, a maturity they didn't have before. It makes me a little bit sad to think that it's over when they've finally grown. But as mentioned earlier in the thread this ending honours their relationship and time together and opens up a lot of posibilites for Martha to grow even further as a character.

I think the fact that she's practically taken charge and raised Ruby when her parents seperated, her mother died and her father distanced himself proves that statement wrong. I'm not gonna lie, the girl bugged the crap out of me when she first appeared. The hot headedness was far from appealing and she appeared to think she was better than everyone else. But If you bothered to read any sort of sub text before long you would realise that's not the case and all and it's her defense mechanism to coping with low self esteem. She is irrationally and irritating paranoid. With Roman you could tell every two minutes she was worried he was cheating on her. She's fiercely indeendant and she puts up this tough barrier around her which makes it hard for her to let people in. She's also big on the self pitying thing, BUT that said I've found her becoming a favourite despite myself. At first her going off at Aden and Belle in Aden's house bugged me but looking back on it, the fact that she did it all gives her a big thumbs up from me. Someone had to and showed an incredibly loyal side to her- defending Angelo when no one else would because she knew the way he was being treated was wrong. She speaks before she thinks, which isn't always the smart thing but it's real. She doesn't talk BS and the softer more vulnerable layers that have been exposed of her character are actually really nice to watch. I really like teh dynamic between her and Ruby as well. Even though she's the older sister she seems to need Ruby's advice a lot and it shoes how close they are. I'm looking forward to seeing more layers unfold.

Well I don't like you. Damn your ability. I wish my 'experiments' turned out that well! lol. Colouring = perfect. Cropping = superb. Text = fantastic. Incredibly creative. Adorable. They're all so good but ew to Sam. 7 months on and I still go ew everytime I think about her, lol. I think I need therapy. And I'm going to use an icon as soon as I can make up mine on which one. Make mooooooooore please.

LOL at the Roman ones, lol. They're great. The colouring is great. *big thumbs up*

Love the colouring Sarah. Partic on 4 & 8.

I LOVE these! Will and Gyps. The colouring really brings out the red. and the last one is so cute! Saving them.

Alex and Izzie! I love the first one. It's beautiful! And the Alex one is great, love the cropping & the text. Go Sarah. I started uploading all the official site 2008 pics as well into a photobucket account but it may take a while because my net has decided to slow down, but I'll tell you when it's all done.

Amyyyyyyy. Wow those are beautiful. You still remain the one with the most amazing colouring I know. I absolutely love them all, and the Amanda ones. That's my favourite though. It's gorgeous.

Roman is awesome. I get why people think the saint thing is annoying but I think it's refreshing to see a character who has class above all else. Even in a messy situation like the one with Charlie where he realised he didn't share the kind of feelings she had he was honest about it (as stated above) He can be blunt but he's always honest. He always seems to be putting everyone else's needs before his own and I think his realisation of who how he feels about Martha is a perfect exmaple of it (crap storyline but perfect to display just how much of a good guy he is) It's typical of any other character in soaps to not give a crap about the relationship the person they want to be with is in, just to get what they want. Roman seems to be a really big exception to this. I can't understand anyone coming to the conclusion of him trying to hit on a widow either. If anything he'd become an even better friend and strong source of support (he's alreeady established he won't settle for second best) To me that's the kind of guy he is portrayed as. I love his r.ships with Nicole and Aden and Morag and I hope to see more of those this year. I also think Conrad is the best actor on the show. I know that's not an incredibly popular opinion but I have never been able to fault him with any emotion at all. He may not have had the most challenging storylines to work with to prove he is like abuse or cancer etc, but what he is given he nails. Particular the Olympic Cliffhanger- he was superb.

What bugs me is the way Angelo seems to be copping flack for no worse than anything Aden and Belle have done. Angelo revealed their affair in public > Belle did that to Amanda when she found out she slept with Drew. When someone is hurt by someone they care about I think it's understandable that preserving their dignity or maintaining tact is not at the top of their list. Angelo through a chair at the wall. Not Belle. The wall. No I don't think it's ok to scare people like that but I also don't think he ever had any intention of physically hurting her. And I don't think it's ok to push people to limits that Angelo was pushed. If he wanted to hurt her he could have. He didn't. I'm not going to compare that to Aden trying to kill his dad either because that is a completely different situation and the circumstances provoking that were a lot more complex. I will compare it though to Aden beating Axel within two inches of his life. Angelo throws a chair AWAY from Belle and Aden beats his best friend unconcious but Angelo gets tagged the horrible violent one? Then there is Angelo being "sleazy." As far as I'm aware all he ever did was banter playfully with Belle and with Charlie when they both decided to make him aware they were single. He never took himself seriously and it was basically exactly the same way Aden flirted with Belle- pretending to be full of himself. He is a s**t cop- that I have no doubt about, it seems to come with the territory in SB. But he's supposedly horrible one minute for tapping into her phone records but it was perfectly fine when she asked him to break the rules for her cause. The cheating aside the way she treated him was horrible- the lying, the using and the snapping at him when he was only trying to help her. And I remember reading somewhere that Angelo musn't be that upset because he was going out with Charlie five minutes later. Well if you forgo that conclusion then Belle musn't have been that upset for going out with Angelo five minutes after Aden. The only time I ever remember Angelo "harrasing" Belle was in the diner when SHE went up to him first to have a go at him about Aden and Leah unfairly kicked him out. And despite all that when the gunman tried to kill them he put his life on the line to save her (cop or not) that doesn't sound like the behaviour of someone with no redeeming qualities. I love Aden. I like Belle. And I really like Angelo. I don't think anything in the entire situation is black and white and I can defintiely see similar behaviour patterns and flaws between all three characters.

Not sure where you can get it though.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. My god the first half of it was boring, I was so, so close to falling asleep. But boy did it pick up. I do like romance stories but I absolutely detest cringeworthy ott crap ones *cough* cheesiness in the notebook style *cough* but the romance in this movie single handedly made it awesome. It was really touching and so nice to watch. I think it was even longer than Australia though, but I'm glad it was lengthy. Lots of movies try to show the duration of someone's life and cut so much out by trying to cram it all of it into an hour and a half- this movie didn't. The cinematography was stunning as well. I give it an 8. I'd give it a 10 if the first half hadn't seemed so pointless but in hindsight it did set a lot groundwork for the rest of the film. I saw the preview for Revolutionary Road before the movie started too. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DeCaprio reunited! EEE- can't wait to see that one.

They're pretty. Love the cropping.

Love the colouring on the first one & the Jack and Xavier one. Heh.

Aww Sarah. I think I have all of the this week in pictures saved in a folder and a similar bluish colouring to the one you were using, if that helps I can pm them to you? I know how much it sucks when the computer is a pain in the ass.

They did, lol. There were quite a few threads on it as well. That's probably why I still have myself in defense mode. Sorry if I jumped the gun a bit, I didn't mean to get my back up I think I'm too used to it. I understand both above points completely And it has help developed Belle into a more fallable character, Sure I wasn't happy about the whole development with Angelo but it gave her a much more rounded personality. Her heart was in the right place even if the way she went about it was completely wrong. She's back to being one of my favourite characters- definitley down to the way Jess plays her.

If you're going to go and imply Martha's a s*** then you can Belle that as well. I'm so sick of people condemning one character for something and then justifying it for their favourite. The point wasn't how many guys Belle has been with nor is it relevant to compare her number to some other characters. The point was that she used Angelo and Luc and sex was used in those relationships to get what she wanted. It doesn't make her a bad person, she made mistakes. I still think she's a great character. Bttb-rox said it perfectly.

I love the third Martha and Matilda one, lol. They made me giggle. I really like the colouring on the first row of icons as well.

Jannie icons! I love 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 & the third Belle one.