As far back as I can remember Emmerdale has been in my life. My first memory of it was the Aaron and Jackson Story, from then Aaron became a firm favourite for me.
I properly joined the Emmerdale fandom on Tumblr in 2015 after the affair had been exposed. The Tumblr fandom for Emmerdale at the time was super active, for Robron fans and I had loads of friends! (If anyone remembers me I was itsdinglesugdenlove) I wrote fics about our favourite boys and I was rooting for them along the way, when Liv came into the mix I was overjoyed, I adored the dynamic between the three of them. They became a home for messed up village kids and I loved them for it. They were my queer little family and I adored them, I was convinced if they had a baby it'd be the spit of Aaron but be dressed in little Robert suits!!
Liv's asexuality was so important to me, because at the time I'd been so confused sexuality wise for years, and it was Liv who made me realise that I wasn't broken, and I was asexual. (I now identify as aro/ace)
The breakup era destroyed the fandom, and when they got back together I remember sobbing so hard, and then everything went wrong and Robert went to prison and there was THAT montage of their moments together and that was it. Robert was gone but we still had Aaron and Liv. I hated any romantic partner they tried to give Aaron because it wasn't Robert.
Liv was always a favourite character of mine, I saw a lot of myself in her, with my own asexuality and the fact I was epileptic as well, I literally adored her. She found her soulmate in Vinny and everything was so perfect for her until Meena happened. I couldn't believe Aaron washing his hands of her, it was soul destroying, this along with the fact that almost every scene for Liv had someone calling her a freak for being asexual, made me stop watching Emmerdale for a few months.
All that's left to say is, for eight years of my life, I dedicated myself to Robert Sugden, Aaron Dingle and Liv Flaherty. Robert's in prison. Liv is dead. Me? I don't think I'll recover from this pain. That little family deserved all the happiness in the world.
OH MY GOD SO NO FUCKIN BULLSHIT I SWEAR To GOD. I reblogged this an hour ago and IM NOT Lying My Tax Refund which I did in late march popped into my Bank Account, and it was a Decent sized amount……
WHAT THE FUCK Is THIS MAGIC!??!?!?! Im trying this again IM NOT BSing hahahaha thats actually pretty cool xD
Because Robert is Marco and Faith deserved to have her favourite blondie at her beach party.
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"Hey, how's Whitby? Or was it Blackpool?"
Aaron smiled at the familiar voice.
"A lot closer to Emmerdale than I remember." He laughed. "But at least gran's having a good time."
"Yeah? And what about you? Are you building sandcastles and eating ice cream?"
"Rodney did manage to get a load of sand here. The kids are having a blast. But no ice cream. Maybe there's still some of that stuff you like in the freezer."
"Please don't eat that. It'll be ancient. I want you back in one piece, not stuck in hospital with food poisoning."
"Alright, maybe I'll just drive to Hotten later and get some. Though it won't be as good as the gelato at home."
"We'll have to get some when you're back."
"Yeah." Aaron sighed. "I miss you. I hate being away from you."
"I know. Me too. But this is important. I wish I was there too. Your gran is one of the few members of your family who actually liked me. Or didn't hate me."
"That's not true." Aaron argued. "Monty likes you."
"Oh cheers. The whole family hates me except the dog." They both laughed and Aaron wished he could see him. But a video call with the entire family around was too risky.
"Daaaddd, I'm bored!" a voice said in the background.
"Yes, I know, you've said about 15 times now."
"But I'm bored!"
"We're almost there."
"I have to pee!"
"Can you hold it for a little bit longer? We're almost there, I promise."
"Maybe you should stop before disaster strikes." Aaron suggested. "Where are you off to?"
"Just a little road trip to the sea side. Get him out of the house for a bit."
"So we're both spending the day at the beach? I wish I was there with you."
"I know. Soon."
"Yeah." Aaron sighed and looked around at his family all enjoying themselves and doing their best to make sure his gran was happy. "I'll send you some pictures later, the place looks great."
"Who are you talking to? Is that Marco?" Liv wiggled her eyebrows at him and tried to snatch his phone out of his hands.
"Oi! Get off." Aaron warned her and held his phone out of her reach.
"Is that Marco?" she asked again.
"None of your business."
"That's a yes then. Let me talk to him."
"What? No. No chance!"
"Why not? I promise I won't embarrass you... much."
"No." Aaron repeated and walked a few steps away from her to continue his conversation in private. "I should probably go."
"Alright. Try to enjoy yourself ok?"
"I'll try. Talk tonight?"
"As soon as I get his lordship to bed, I'm all yours."
Aaron laughed.
"I can't wait. Give him a kiss from me."
"Will do. See you soon ok? Love you."
"Love you too. Bye." Aaron hung up and turned back around, only to come face to face with Liv with a massive grin on her face.
"What?!" he demanded.
"Oh Marco, I love you so." She teased and started making kissing noises at him as he pushed past her.
He'd planned to get himself another drink and find a quiet corner to enjoy the sunny day and just let the madness be, until Cain suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
"Help me get your gran up."
"What? Why? She's comfortable."
"Can you just do as you're told for a change? Come on, help me."
Aaron rolled his eyes but helped Cain get Faith up.
"Where are we going? I was perfectly happy over there. You could just get me another drink, you know." she told them.
"Don't look at me. It's all his idea." Aaron gestured to Cain who shot him a glare.
"Come on mother, we're going for a little walk, you'll enjoy this."
Together they helped her get up and walk a few steps, and just as Aaron was about to ask where they were going, an ice cream van rounded the corner.
"Did you do this?" Faith asked Cain who actually smiled.
"Can't have a day at the beach without ice cream, can we?"
The van parked a few feet away from them and Aaron's eyebrows shot up into his hairline when the side window opened and Diane appeared.
"What can I get you sweetheart? 99 is it?"
"What are you doing here?!" Faith asked her.
"Coming to see you! And bring you ice cream. So order up and I'll have my assistants bring it to you."
The back of the van opened and someone got out, the open door blocking them from view as they turned around and grabbed something from inside, before closing the door.
"Robert?" Aaron almost forgot he was supporting Faith when he saw his husband standing there with their son on his hip, and had to force himself not to rush over and throw his arms around the two.
"Surprise." He said, smiling brightly as he put Seb down who ran straight to Aaron.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Chas demanded, hands on her hips. "You're supposed to be in prison."
Robert shrugged.
"Turns out they don't keep you there if you've not done anything wrong."
"You killed someone!"
"Not according to new evidence and Luke Posner's statement."
"But what about Marco?" Chas turned to Aaron. "Are you cheating on him with... him?"
"No. Marco is... well..." he gestured at Robert.
"You're Marco?"
"Yes and no. Marco is our 78 year old neighbour in Milan." Robert explained. "This story was my idea. Though he said it was crazy and he wasn't going to do it." he raised an eyebrow at Aaron.
"I could hardly tell them the truth, could I?"
"But the pictures you showed me? The story you told on how you met?" Chas looked back and forth between the two men.
"The guy in the pictures is Marco's grandson, Andrea. He was visiting when you called to tell me about gran. The two of them came up with this whole thing." Aaron nodded at Robert. "After a bottle of wine."
Next to him Faith cackled.
"This is better than Silent Witness!" She let go of Aaron and Cain and walked over to Robert. "Good to see you again blondie."
Robert smiled and bent down to hug her.
"Likewise. I wish the circumstances were different though."
"You and me both, love." Faith sighed but then seemed to pick herself up again. "Now get me an ice cream and then tell me everything."
Later, after Faith had let Robert go and Seb was making a mess of himself with Isaac, Aaron finally got his quiet corner. A quiet corner to kiss his husband and share an ice cream.
"I can't believe you're here. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"You would've talked me out of it. And it was kind of a last minute thing."
"Did you drive all the way here in that van?"
Robert laughed.
"Of course not. We got a flight here and then Rodney picked us up from the airport. The van was parked in Hotten."
"So when we talked earlier..."
"We'd just gotten in the van. Seb actually blew the surprise but you didn't hear it."
Aaron smiled and the two of them sat in silence for a while, just watching everyone enjoy themselves on their makeshift beach.
"I know I said I could do it alone... but I'm glad you're here." he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Robert's lips.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." Robert told him. "But there's just one thing I need."
"What?"
Robert put his spoon down and reached up to Aaron's neck, his fingers slipping into his shirt and pulling a chain out. He undid the clasp and let the ring slide from it and drop in his open palm.
"I think this should go back on." He grabbed Aaron's hand and put his wedding ring back on his ring finger. "Much better."
Either one of these could be him. Neither of these will be him.
Rationally it's the latter. But I need it to be him. Aaron needs it to be him. We all deserve for it to be him. And I need this godforsaken show to do one thing right.
First impression
My first impressions of Ariel came through GIFs rather than the actual show. I remembered thinking he'd got great hair and generally seemed a little darker than other Mat characters but I assumed there'd be some kind of massive catch, like he'd turn out good in the end or something.
Impression now
He still has great hair, I'm not denying that. I love how different a role Ariel is for Mat, and obviously my thoughts about him being a "darker" character are now more that the guy is psychotic and needs help and I can definitely change him. Contender for my favourite Mat character, if I'm honest.
Favorite moment
The bank vault, the bank vault, the bank vault!! Ariel pretending to be Jamie is fantastic and just that whole scene is Mat's acting at it's finest. And Ariel's so hot and psycho and terrifying in this even whilst acting like the more mild-mannered Jamie. I think if I hated him, this is the scene where I'd really want to punch him in the face, especially when he hugs Jamie's mum and Dave. It's so irritating but he's so hot and I'm so conflicted.
Idea for a story
Again, most of my ideas for Mat characters are very smutty. I did write out a whole idea for how S2 of YMATA would've gone though. I feel like Ariel would get found out pretty quickly and hopefully tied up a lot.
Unpopular opinion
Again, not sure if there are many regular opinions for this show for me to have an "unpopular" one. Oh, never mind, Ariel over Jamie, sorry Jamie but Ariel's so much more interesting 😈
Favorite relationship
Ariel/Jamie is such an interesting relationship in all kinds of ways and I wish we'd got more, especially more just Jamie confronting Ariel on how much of a dick he is or Jamie asking him soft things like about their mum and Ariel getting really defensive and angry about it all. Just more of these two interacting and being brothers and working things out, please?
Favorite headcanon
Ariel was only ever into Layla to replace the love he didn't get from his mum as a child and then only wanted her back later on to get back at Jamie. I don't think he ever actually loved her or wanted her. He was just using her.
