Maisie

you’ll find me supporting Aaron dingle’s rights and wrongs

[aarondingledales]

Aaron Dingle / ‘I wish I could go back in time…’

[thelovetheystole]

If they don't realise how utterly ridiculous it is to have Robert talk to Kev ablut his son after not seeing Seb since he was 2, then they really are clueless. Or is it spiteful they are being?!

[whatdoiknow]

THE Bridge

[aarondingledales]

Paddy and Aaron / My Son

Song: Stepdad by Cian Ducrot

[cheerioio]

😭😭😭😭 im crying

[globule]

aarondale in a miller caption literally what is he tapped into

[bbellalala]

[aarondingle]

[thelovetheystole]

A collection of Robert related promo shots.

[aelric]

okay so the dynamic is serena sends robert instagram reels and he just responds with 👍 every time

[alright-fuckhead]

Serena Sugden | 23.06.2026

[druidmilk]

Have some Emmerdale pride Gifs 🏳️‍🌈

[roleofa-lifetime]

x

[skylesbian]

08.12.2008 → 10.02.2017

[e20minutemart]

Consider this a long post about Aaron and Jackson’s storyline post-accident.

If that isn’t your thing, feel free to skip.

This is my perspective as someone born with a disability.

What Emmerdale got right was that not everyone has a magical operation and can walk again. The amount of time Jackson spent in a hospital/rehab place was decently accurate. The fact that he needed 24 hour care as well.

The small details I noticed as a disabled viewer: Jackson was in a manual chair, a real manual wheelchair. Not one they use in hospitals.

This made sense because getting a motorized chair that was custom to his access needs would take months. (Speaking from experience.)

The scene after Aaron told Jackson he loved him. The way 20 year old Danny Miller understood the assignment. The way he crouched next to the wheelchair so Aaron could look at Jackson in the eye.

I’ve had people do that and most times it feels condescending. Not this. Not how Danny played it. So kudos to him.

I know some have issues with Jackson pushing Aaron away but let me say this.

I am much more independent than Jackson was and I still need help. There isn’t a day that I don’t feel like a burden.

Marc Silcock nailed the nuances of all those emotions.

I am a huge advocate for authentic disabled representation in media, but it was 2010/11 and the storyline wouldn’t have worked otherwise.

But I have never felt more represented by a non-disabled person as I did watching him.

What I wish we had seen - more disabled intimacy. But again it was 2010/11. Not only would have it been disabled, but also queer intimacy.

Seeing Aaron kiss Jackson while he changed Jackson’s shirt before bed would have been so perfect.

I know the end of the storyline was controversial and why so many hated the pairing.

If there is hate, it should be towards Jackson’s mother who went between overbearing to not caring to being selfish.

[e20minutemart]

Consider this a long post about Aaron and Jackson’s storyline post-accident.

If that isn’t your thing, feel free to skip.

This is my perspective as someone born with a disability.

What Emmerdale got right was that not everyone has a magical operation and can walk again. The amount of time Jackson spent in a hospital/rehab place was decently accurate. The fact that he needed 24 hour care as well.

The small details I noticed as a disabled viewer: Jackson was in a manual chair, a real manual wheelchair. Not one they use in hospitals.

This made sense because getting a motorized chair that was custom to his access needs would take months. (Speaking from experience.)

The scene after Aaron told Jackson he loved him. The way 20 year old Danny Miller understood the assignment. The way he crouched next to the wheelchair so Aaron could look at Jackson in the eye.

I’ve had people do that and most times it feels condescending. Not this. Not how Danny played it. So kudos to him.

I know some have issues with Jackson pushing Aaron away but let me say this.

I am much more independent than Jackson was and I still need help. There isn’t a day that I don’t feel like a burden.

Marc Silcock nailed the nuances of all those emotions.

I am a huge advocate for authentic disabled representation in media, but it was 2010/11 and the storyline wouldn’t have worked otherwise.

But I have never felt more represented by a non-disabled person as I did watching him.

What I wish we had seen - more disabled intimacy. But again it was 2010/11. Not only would have it been disabled, but also queer intimacy.

Seeing Aaron kiss Jackson while he changed Jackson’s shirt before bed would have been so perfect.

I know the end of the storyline was controversial and why so many hated the pairing.

If there is hate, it should be towards Jackson’s mother who went between overbearing to not caring to being selfish.

[doyouthinkhewouldsquandersouls]

people love to talk about characters being redeemable or irredeemable but that's such a subjective quality. what matters more is to ask, in what specific circumstances would character x forgive character y. and then repeat that process for every character that needs to interact with character y. like, it doesn't matter if i would forgive them, or you would or if society at large would. the question is, would the character who is presently interacting with character y extend forgiveness or not.

that's why being mad at chas for hating rob when rob has been 'redeemed' doesn't make sense. partially because rob isn't 'redeemed' because redemption implies an end state where the scales balance and the story ends and that is impossible given he's still alive and still fucking things up and will continue to do so for as long as he's on the show. and also partially because his past actions are truly heinous and chas has a high bar for forgiveness. chas does not love rob, to her he's a terrifying man who killed her best mate, hurt her precious son and reminds her of her own abusive ex to the point that he gives her night terrors/features in her ptsd induced hallucinations. chas is also not a particularly forgiving character. she's quick to lash out and slow to soften to anyone. it does not make a lick of sense that she would forgive rob and so it's good writing that she vacillates between hating him and tolerating him for aaron's sake (as she should imho 😁).

for aaron, rob saves his life when he's dying of sepsis, he's the first person he tells about gordon (sepsis induced but he may never have disclosed to anyone otherwise). then rob is his main support when paddy is proving himself unreliable by cheating and chas is dating gordon. rob then finds sandra and gets in the car with aaron when his courage is failing him to go with him to meet her.

none of this changes the fact that he murdered katie, pressured aaron into covering for him, implicated aaron in her death, tied him to a radiator, tried to kill him and shot paddy. you can't undo the past. but it does make sense that this is enough for aaron, who forgave chas for leaving and for all the terrible things she's said to him, who forgave paddy for outing him when the thought of being out made him actively suicidal, and who will go on to forgive jason for torturing him in prison and billy for participating in that torture. and when for most of his horrific childhood he loved his dad, despite everything.

aaron really, really wants to love people. for all his hostility and volatility, he has an incredible capacity for both love and forgiveness which is partly his kind heart and partly self-preservation -> if he cannot forgive then he will have no one left. he has had to forgive what many would consider the unforgiveable in order to preserve almost all of the current major relationships in his life, he's lived a lifetime of taking what he can get. and he's also in love with rob, he knew he still loved him even after katie, even when he thought rob would never leave chrissie, so it makes sense that all rob has to do is show that he's here for aaron now and aaron will forgive him.

but yeah, i see a lot of people considering whether he's done enough for them to forgive him, and then terming that 'redemption' rather than looking at each character he's victimised separately and considering whether they are likely to extend or withhold forgiveness based on their personality and the current circumstances and what aspects of the past matter most to them and what aspects of the action in the appeals most to them.

[aarondingledales]

Redemption is entirely subjective !!

I love this post so so much. The question should not be redeemed or unredeemable. The question is to whom! Not the redeemability of the collection of misdeeds but the salience of those misdeeds to any given person at any given time.

What makes Robert an incredible soap character is the variety in the way he is perceived by the other villagers. People who you may personally feel are ‘too forgiving’ of him and people who you feel are ‘too harsh’ on him. The mythicality of the man and the lenses through which he is viewed. The things Robert has done, the good things and the bad things, the things people choose to focus on at any given time. And I love Aaron’s perspective on him. I adore the hopeless and endless love he has for that man and I completely understand it. But Chas’ perspective is also characterised perfectly.

The commentary on Aaron’s capacity to forgive is so emotional for me. One of his most beautiful traits. Yet so sad. IF HE CANNOT FORGIVE THEN HE WILL HAVE NOONE LEFT. the 8 year old boy who had to forgive the only person he believed loved him in order to survive. Who had to believe he still was loved and love in return because if he didn’t believe that then he was simply not loved by anyone at all. And the man who has loathed himself and seen himself as unforgivable time and time again. I was forgiven for hurting paddy. Forgiven for hurting Jackson. For killing Jackson. For covering up a murder. ‘If I am worth forgiving then almost anyone is.’ And so the man forgives. And it doesn’t matter that we may not agree with him, we may feel that he shouldn’t have to forgive so freely, that what others do is worse than what he has ever done. It doesnt matter, that is Aaron’s view and why he lives his life the way he does