I think the thing I love about the proposal that its sort of rob and aaron fully resigning themselves to their inevitability (aaron specifically, as its him that's proposing). its them, regardless of anything. and i dont even mean resigning themselves in a negative way... but its like theyve given up on anything but being together, even if theres still some clear issues between them... especially with aaron, who is clearly demonstrating annoyance with roberts lies, impulsiveness and need to take control of every situation (an issue from their previous relationship and in many ways what landed robert in prison in the first place). but still, its going to be them at the end, so they might as well grow from it together instead of apart. because theyve both tried being apart and being with other people, and its soooo much worse. and like its almost sad and romantic at the same time... the thing about robert and aaron is they both view themselves as fundamentally unloveable. robert who has sooo many unadmirable flaws and has never quite fit with his family, and who ruins everything he spends any time around/loves. aaron who is violent and angry and who's emotions are always trying to be regulated by the people that love him most. robert who, when loved, often experiences it hand in hand with control (jack, money/chrissie, kev) and aaron who is punished when his love, and loving him, isnt enough (chas, jackson, marco, john). they are both so not easy to love... but that doesnt matter for robert and aaron... they love each other in a way no one else ever has or ever will. they will always always always have each other, whether theyre together or apart (robert being a ghost that haunts aaron)... its both their blessing and their curse. being together can trigger some of their worst flaws in each other but the alternative is being rubbish without each other. and really when they are together they are so completely themselves, or the version of themselves they've always wanted to be, for better and for worse. passionate and messy and angry and human and happy and loved. they can do or say or be anything and no matter what they will always have each other. but they will always need each other too... both a comfort and a burden. but to be unburdened of it is the worst thing that could ever happen to either of them ... messed up foreverrr... :)
Temporary blindness storyline for Robert, mayhaps?
Aaron is terrified it's caused by knocking him out and/or carbon monoxide!
Robert is convinced it's just a migraine!
Robert lying about how bad the blindness is so that Aaron stops worrying, putting himself in more danger at the farm!
The doctors think it's stress and PTSD! Aaron refusing to let Liam tell him this could be caused by stress because how dare he say that Robert isn't genuinely ill...!.
This is where we first met. What is it? Nothing. Come on, what is it? You can tell me anything. I've never... You know. I'm not gay. Neither am I.
Emmerdale | 12.11.2025
i wanted to do something to celebrate 11 years since robron's first kiss so thought a gif/edits/fic challenge might be fun~ feel free to join in with me :D here's the themes:
Monday 1st: favourite pre affair moment
Tuesday 2nd: favourite location
Wednesday 3rd: favourite fight
Thursday 4th: first kiss lockdown! fave moments from 04/12/14
Friday 5th: favourite I love you
Saturday 6th: favourite wedding moment
Sunday 7th: favourite foreshadowing / parallel
you can choose multiple moments for each day if u like and if you can only join in on some days thats fine! no pressure just want to give some inspo to creators to celebrate our robron and robron ONLY!
tag #robronannivweek so we can see each others creations!
@globule's amazing vid and the references to nicola recently reminding me of how wild the robert/nicola sl was. which, from everything said here i was expecting to hate but...i actually thought it was a really deftly handled issue based sl about uk age of consent laws + character piece. which surprised me because i was under the impression that the show/village didn't support rob, or take what happened seriously, and that wasn't the case at all. i felt like the show took a really strong stance on the issue and was solidly on the side of it being a violation (see the pub scene in which everyone in the village gangs up on nicola).
importantly, i think the fact that rob didn't, and as of now still doesn't, see it as a violation is key to the point being made i.e. if the age gap is too great and/or the relationship with the minor pre-exists them reaching the age of consent, then, while consent may be freely, willingly and legally given, it's still absolutely not okay/going to be accepted by the community/damaging to the young person involved.
significantly, they did this without patronising rob or his experience of what happened which i think is particularly important for teens watching who may have similar experiences, or adults who had similar experiences as teens.
like, the two arguments people make regarding sex with a minor over the age of consent are represented by both rob and nicola:
nicola - it's legal, so what's the problem?
rob - i'm attracted to and want to have sex with this older person, so what's the problem?
but then you see nicola does actually know it's wrong because she tries to keep it a secret, thus undermining her later defensiveness about it being legal and therefore fine, and once it comes out, absolutely no one in the village is in her corner at all and she very quickly backtracks, everyone in the village who finds out gets to vocalise another view about why it's wrong. but you also get see where her attitude might come from when the guy she uses to get rid of rob also then uses her for sex and leaves in turn!
and then you have rob who, despite being into it, is clearly so out of his depth floundering around trying to date her in such a high school way, not getting hook up culture or casual sex, immediately going off to buy her a necklace with her name on it (so sweet, so sad 😢) you can just see how bad the whole thing is for him even though he doesn't.
a big part of why he wants to date nicola is because his classmates are making fun of him for being a virgin and rob hates being seen as weak or less of a man or being left behind. he actually thinks sleeping with someone so much older is going to make him seem even more experienced than they are and says as much (sex always about power to him, even then). but sleeping with nicola in the end just garners him more mocking for being desperate (😭) so it's also a clear message to similarly minded boys that saying yes to sleeping with an older woman won't get them the social kudos they think it will despite the fact that they may see it as an appealing option.
of course then you get to see the further damage it's done when rob's conscious take away from the situation is not that nicola has hurt him by sleeping with him in the first place, using his youth and inexperience to feel good about herself for a moment (clear to us) but that she's hurt him by refusing to continue the relationship leading to this character defining exchange:
does it make you feel good, hurting someone this much?
come and tell me when you've done it.
so the sl is entirely a psa, entirely kind and understanding of rob's age and vulnerability, entirely aware of rob as a character, how he sees relationships and status as interrelated even to begin with and why so many of his relationships involve him taking advantage of others while also inadvertently exposing him to being taken advantage of himself and how he also comes to view sex not only as means to gain status but also as a weapon he can use to crush other people by offering it and withholding it and being unfaithful.
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