#basically beware if anything in aaron's/robert's storyline is triggering

[aarondinglestan]

This!

Here it is once again, folks: If you’d rather have Aaron be with someone else than Robert, it’s a Fetish. The difference between a Fetish and a Non Fetish is how invested you are in the “ship”. (”We’re invested in their story!”)

Well, I’m invested in Aaron’s story, as an individual. Hey--I know it’s crazy, but since Aaron is my favorite character who I’ve been watching since his first episode on Emmerdale, and seeing as I relate a whole lot to him for his coming out storyline and ongoing self-harm storyline, I’d actually rather he wasn’t with someone who’s done this to him:

Oh yeah, that’s Robert almost hitting his mum with a rock.

And who’s that? Oh yeah, that’s the hit that Robert hired to kill his mum. All the while Aaron was in hospital because he’d almost run himself to death because of the guilt he felt about Katie, Aaron’s mum’s best friend. Whom Robert killed by accident and instead of calling the police, made Aaron cover it up.

What’s this smirking face, then? Oh that’s just Robert attempting to murder Paddy, the closest thing Aaron has to a father.

Robert: "See what I did yesterday was a warning. And if you ignore it, it's not you who I'll be coming after-- I'll make Leo pay. Or Rhona. or both."

Threatening kids, classy move!

So now we’re at the place where he’s knocked Aaron out cold and gets out the bathrobe belts. I can’t be the only one who was scared there for a while that he’d strangle Aaron.

Phew, okay! He only strung him up and tied him to a radiator. Now, that’s a relief.

Nice victim blaiming from Robert:

"You know whatever happens next, its all your fault."

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t put me in this position!“

In Robert’s mind, Aaron’s made Robert draw the gun and threaten him. Can we spell gaslighting?

And this is Aaron’s face when he thinks that Robert is gonna gun him down. Something I didn’t need to see, but something I saw, nevertheless.

He only got Paddy! So that’s a total of three times that he’s seriously hurt/threatened Paddy. Again, the closest thing Aaron has to a father.

Since we’re going through Robert’s Best Hits, let’s have a look at what he has to say about Aaron’s self-harm.

Robert: "Pathetic? Yeah, no I'm pathetic. (At least) I'm not gonna cut myself. Where'd you get them scars, in an unfortunate yachting accident?"

Robert has some unloading to do. This is probably him at his nastiest, which is quite something. It starts with Robert completely disrespecting Aaron’s boundaries, and lording over his ownership of the scrapyard, and goes from there... (x)

A: "Get lost, Robert, before I make you." R: "Stay as long as I want; it's my investment, remember. I should've ditched you way back. Had enough other lads on the go." A: "That the best you've got? You're upset cos i'm not grovelling at your feet?" R: "Oh, you thought you were the only one. You actually did, yeah!" A: "I don't give a toss." R: "Oh, but you do, Aaron. You act like you're so hard, but you're a basket case. You've got you're whole family fussing around ye. Even Paddy fighting your battles for you. It's a joke. We've all got problems, Aaron. Both my parents are dead. Then again, at least I don't have some slapper of a mum who dumped me first chance she got. You're wallowing in it, mate. Nobody cares. You're boring! It's boring, you're boring." A: "Why did you stick around so long then?" R: "Well, honestly? I couldn't dump you, could I, not since I found out about your little problem. First time you took your top off, I should've run a mile. I thought it was only girls who cut themselves, but you, you get some sort of perverted little kick out of it, don't you. What? Are you gonna hit me, go on! Go on! Just cry and run away until you bleed. It's actually hilarious, Aaron, you're tapped. I mean, talk about scared of being gay, you wrote the flaming book. You finally see a bloke and then you batter him, and if that wasn't misery enough, you turn him tetraplegic. You couldn't even make it up! A: "You'd better do one, I swear to God." R: "And then you kill him out of love, only I'd call that murder, so turns out we're not actually that different after all." A: "I'm nothing like you." R: "No and you'll be nothing when I'm gone. You know, I wish I had dropped you in it. Prison would be perfect for you. Gay, self-harming, emotionally stunted. You'd probably end up topping yourself. Oh no wait, I forgot, you can't even do that either. Literally a failure at everything." A: "That is the last time you're gonna talk to me like that."

So like, no wonder people are angry about how Robert has treated Aaron’s self-harm. I don’t think Robert could’ve reacted in a worse way, could you?

And like I know all the fans are like “But he was only scared people would find out he was bi!“ Ummmmm, that is so insulting to LGBT folks. Like, somehow it’s a normal thing to be emotionally and physically abusive to your secret boyfriend cos you’re scared of coming out? I’m sorry, but his extreme reactions have more to do with the kinda person he is, not his sexuality. Also, he was very heavily invested in the money side of things via staying with Chrissy.

“But he’s a changed man! He only cares about Aaron now!“ Oh yes, we saw through Aaron’s child abuse storyline that he can actually be a Normal Person With Feelings and Empathy. Relatable AF! But his true colors still bleed through. Look how vicious he was to Rebecca when he found out she was pregnant. He still gets increadibly nasty towards people when things don’t go his way. He is very controlling as a rule.

Like, look how controlling he was towards Aaron when he had one (1) date with Alex. He was literally stalking Aaron, hiding in his driveway, and then sat between them in the pub to slag on about how Alex is using the hospital as a pick-up joint. I wonder if people would see the stalking and harrassment as “romantic“ if the storyline was about a straight relationship? If a woman broke up with a man after he cheated and got another woman pregnant, would it be cool for the man to lurk around her house and come harrass the man she’s having a date with?

Paddy even commented, "I don't think the man (Robert) understands the concept of being an ex." You think, Paddy.

Here’s a nice comparison to make on the sort of people that Robert and Alex are:

Robert (to Alex): “I hope my husband makes you very happy.” Alex (to Aaron): "If you want me to go, I will, as long as it's your decision, and not his."

But, you say, people only want to see Aaron together with Alex because people are gagging for them to snog and shag on screen. Here's a revolutionary idea: Could it be that, in the brief scenes we had of them together, Alex was constantly respecting Aaron's boundaries, respecting Aaron's decisions, and generally being the opposite of the pushy, emotionally controlling person that Robert is? Like, emotional support and an actual healthy relationship is an attractive prospect for Aaron fans, especially after the wringer that Robert’s made him go through.

Liv is who stole Alex’s phone to get him to meet Aaron again, and Aaron is who called up Alex later on. Alex has been as non-threatening as a person could be. Basically, he’s stated that he’s interested, but that Aaron only needs to give one word and he’ll respect that. True, we don’t know Alex like we know Robert; he could totally be up for killing Chas and Paddy too, but from what we’ve seen so far, he’s come across as a respectful and gentle person. The timing isn’t right though, but it was unclear as to what tipped it over for Aaron: it being too soon after his meltdown and marriage ending, or Robert manipulating Aaron into feeling guilty about it. Probably it was a combination of both, but having a light relationship somewhere down the line with Alex could’ve actually been a healing thing for Aaron, seeing as from all we saw of Alex, he never once tried to push Aaron into anything. And I’d actually rather see him with someone like that.

But that’s not where the show is going, so let’s look at the storyline coming up with Robert and Aaron. Oh boy.

This is Robert drugging and stripping Lawrence, who’s traumatized from conversion therapy. Let’s all remember for a while that Aaron, the supposed love of his life, is a rape survivor. Robert’s big redemption storyline concerning Aaron was how he was an actual person with feelings who supported Aaron through his rape storyline, but here Robert has no qualms about pretending that a conversion therapy survivor took advantage of him.

I think y’all don’t realize how your “shipper mentality” is actually about glorifying a very fucked up relationship, and you’re extremely blind to it. And the way you’re going on about how anyone wanting to see Aaron with anyone else is about a gay fetish really makes it seem like you actually can’t think beyond Aaron’s character as being gay and sexualized through that. You do realize that two men kissing and having sex is a normal thing? It’s not this big thing that needs to be empathized every time Aaron is having a date with someone new. The way you automatically think that Aaron/Alex is just about seeing sex on screen is quite telling of your own attitudes.

I know it’s a revolutionary idea, but I actually just care about the character. And talking about caring what the character himself has stated he wants or doesn’t want, this is what Aaron’s had to say about Robert:

"I do love you, I'll always love you. But this? I hate this. If it carries on for long enough it's gonna end up killing me."

But yay! Why have we not gotten “ex sex”?? Can’t wait for ryan and danny to kiss! Only 52 days to a Robron kiss!