Just catching up on this thread as haven't been paying attention lately. As far as Gambit romances, wanted to chime in a bit. Gambit and Frenzy seemed like a perfect rebound relationship that sadly Carey and Gage did not explore because they wanted Gambit to remain a chump for Rogue. She was the blowing off steam type and if Carey had any actual interest in Gambit, it probably would have made more sense for Frenzy and Gambit to be a thing during the Age of X storyline instead of Frenzy and Cyclops. That would have made the connection with Gambit stronger and a bit more natural given they did in fact have a past.
I am probably in the minority of liking Liu's Gambit and Gambit and Cece. After the disaster that was Romy, I found it a nice change of pace. I can see why some found it boring but quite frankly boring is good coming off of a hugely toxic relationship. So I thought that whole phase in Gambit's story arc made sense as someone trying to gain a bit of normalcy after such a tumultuous relationship not just with she who shall not be named but the X-men as a whole. Having said that, in my headcanon, Gambit and Cece eventually decide to end it and remain friends as Cece and Gambit realize that a nice normal life simply isn't in the cards for him.
Gambit and Polaris would have made sense to me coming off of Cece. She being more of a free spirit, a touch crazy and pretty much Gambit's type. I would have loved to see what could have developed if X-factor had continued and especially with Quicksilver's reaction to the relationship. Sadly as with most Gambit writers, PAD never really went all on on the character.
