Valentin Cassadine hasn’t exactly been enjoying a quiet stretch on General Hospital. He’s bruised, on the run, hiding in Carly’s (Laura Wright) house, and still trying to protect Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) from the fallout circling him. With Anna (Finola Hughes) out of reach and the walls closing in, Valentin’s story has taken on a tense, stripped-back quality lately. Offscreen, though, James Patrick Stuart gave fans something lighter to hold onto, and the timing wasn’t lost on anyone paying attention.How it started...and how it’s going on General HospitalStuart took to X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, “How it started… how it’s going. @lldubs You’ve come a long way, Baby.” He paired the caption with two images that did most of the talking for him.One showed Stuart and Wright years ago, young and unmistakably ’90s, taken when Stuart played Will Cortlandt on All My Children and Wright played Ally Rescott on Loving. The other came from their current GH scenes, with Valentin bruised and wary and Carly standing firm across from him. They looked older, more settled in themselves, like two people who didn’t need to spell out the past. Put next to the earlier photo, the passage of time and growth was evident.The post sent viewers down memory lane fast. @miz198o summed up the mood with a soft “Awww,” while @forever604 dropped a single Face Holding Back Tears emoji that said plenty. @EagleFangMaster zeroed in on Wright’s early days, joking that “Laura ‘aka Carly’ had a cute face lol,” while others leaned straight into nostalgia.Fans fill the commentsGeneral Hospital's Carly and Valentin. | Image Source: ABCaThe replies kept coming, mixing affection, humor, and long-term fandom pride. @hollymm3 went with an enthusiastic “OMG,” along with some Heart in the Eyes emojis while @michelemccarrol kept it classic with “Good looking.” Some fans couldn’t resist tying the post back to current storylines.@MichealBsLady joked, “You belong with me, I mean Anna!,” keeping a soap triangle alive even in the comments. @69MarkoSteve shared a household moment, laughing that her husband had just realized Stuart was “the Seinfeld dude,” before adding she couldn’t wait for Valentin to rescue Anna. Stuart played Brett, Elaine's furniture-designing boyfriend in the 1996 Seinfeld episode, "The Checks," who famously loved The Eagles' song "Desperado" and died after Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) accidentally hit him with an axe.What stood out most was how naturally viewers connected past and present. The throwback didn’t feel like a gimmick. It felt like a reminder that soap history doesn’t disappear; it just builds upon the past. Seeing Stuart and Wright then and now hit a nerve because fans have been right there for the whole ride.General Hospital can be seen weekdays on ABC and Hulu.