Watched "En Ami" last night while peeling potatoes, which leaves only two more episodes and then I'm done with Season Seven of X-files. Aww. The smoking man is such a woobie.

You may have noticed by now that I tend to fall for the bad guys. In xf, it's the Smoker; in Pirates, it's Barbossa; in X-men it's Magneto, in Star Wars I quite liked Tarkin (and really, he deserved better than Daala.) Maybe it's because their positions usually make more sense than the good guys', when you think about it; because they're the ones actually being proactive about their worlds' problems; maybe it's the blend of vulnerability and power. The Smoking Man wants so badly to be good, but he can't try, and he has that terrible and tragic capacity for love, even if it's usually demonstrated from behind a sniper rifle. Barbossa isn't really evil, despite everything, and he's so sad, but he tries to take joy in everything anyway . . .

Maybe it's the voices.

In Harry Potter I tried to fall for Snape, really I did, but he's just so *petty*, half the boys I know in real life are plotting world domination and he just wants revenge for a schoolboy prank? No, the Dark Lord's the one for me. I was reminded of this when Mom had on the Sorcerer's Stone tapes a few days ago. The thing about Voldemort, though, which I've never heard about the others, is the number of people who call him a cardboard villain. Black with no gray, plain vanilla evil. Badly characterized and therefore boring.

I disagree. Therefore, I give you ( Four Virtues of the Dark Lord. )( And one off-the-wall theory. )

Also, he's cute. No, really, doesn't he perfectly fit the classic description of a moonbaby? Big liquid eyes, almost no nose, pale, pale skin, large head and thin, wobbly limbs. Cute!