like a proper little family

What are your #5 under appreciated moments of robron?💛

oh hi tanya! long time no see😂 i'm awful at answering asks so sorry for getting to this so late. in fairness i came up with a list when i first received this but had ELEVEN on it so it's taken me a while to make my sacrifices💔 i've chosen them based on a very unofficial scale of how buzzy they make me and how little i see them talked about and how often i go to rewatch them. okay? okay.

#5 - "why would i miss something that doesn't compare?"

oh, may 25th 2017. perfect episode, so perfect. obviously this is hailed as a fandom favourite (i believe? i see a lot of love for it, at least) but i feel like this small scene gets lost amidst the wonderful writing of this episode. aaron asking if robert missed being with a woman.. and robert responding with "how it was with you.. i've never felt that before. so, no. i didn't miss being with someone else, male or female. why woud i miss something that doesn't compare?"😫 aaron just cannot accept that anyone could love him unconditionally (and his struggle to grasp the concept of bisexuality lmao) and his trauma from affair era left him with the constant fear that robert would choose a woman over him again. but i just love that robert specified that the gender doesn't matter, nobody on this earth could ever compare to aaron - the man that dickmatised him🤍 rebecca was just an empty vessel for him to use and that was that. a toxic feast and a maxine masterclass🤌

#4 - woolie pub quiz

PERFECT WOOLIE PUB QUIZ EPISODE!! i remember this like it was yesterday, knowing that aaron and robert were in the cast list but not the spoilers so thinking they'd be in some throwaway scene, and we got this perfect episode of them just existing in the village!!🤩 the brilliant blend of robert's cockiness, mama bear chas, the proof that they just click so well together and insight into the little idosyncrasies they've discussed off screen "you love it, i think it's tacky" "EYE-BEEF-AHH". also bonus points because i love and miss frank and his constant heckling of "the imaginatively titled team 'aaron and robert'" never fails to make me wheeze. this is how you do a c plot right

#3 - aaron sees robert and seb together for the first time

it's no secret that i'm forever and always a seb hater (soz), but i've gotta say i love the angst that his birth provided for the first couple of episodes before dadbert went into full effect lmao😂 the hospital scene while rebecca's giving birth also made my long list but this scene. GOD THIS SCENE. what do you meannnnnn aaron convinced robert to stay by telling him that he imagined them having kids in the future and that he should stand by his son otherwise all this pain and hurt would be for nothing. then robert DOES THAT and he wanders into the pub looking all happy cradling his son and aaron could have walked away if he wanted to but no, he wanted to see robert and he wanted to talk to robert and robert thanks him for helping him see sense and aaron chokes back his tears and calls him a muppet but can't stop staring at this baby in his husband's arms that should've been theirs someday and was the vision and life that he imagined but instead of bringing endless happiness all it brings him is pain and the reminder that that's not their future anymore and instead it's the consequences of sexual assault a drunken mistake and a prison sentence that could've been avoided and he has to remove himself but at least he TRIED to stick it out🫦 it's a very short scene but it paints a picture of so much angst in the torrid (but in hindsight brilliant) time that was 2017, and one of the few scenes that the existence of seb actually made better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#2 - robert visits aaron in prison (the first time)

for a long time, this has been a go-to rewatch scene for me. i can remember in the first lockdown craving a robron fix and this was the scene that sprung to mind first??? they're riding the high from their wedding, being married men, officially family. but it's tainted with the fact that they can't touch, have to hide their feelings, oh, and aaron is in prison of course😁 it's absolutely perfect to me: robert wanting to show affection in public after years spent in the closet and aaron the one shutting it down because HE HAS TO PROTECT HIMSELF, robert's pained expression at realising he can't hold his husband when just over a year ago he couldn't fathom people knowing of his affliction for men, their giddy little "hiyas", a "you know. i know", the heart eyes, the hand on the leg, robert joking about aaron's family and then correcting it to our family because IT'S THEIR FAMILY NOW😭😭 this is one of those scenes that i could ramble to the hills about and i feel like nobody is ever talking about it. prison visit number one i will always make my way back to you <3

#1 - pre-lodge kiss

i will never be over how into this kiss robert was. he really thought he had his cake and was ready to devour it at the lodge. he had the best of both worlds. his marriage was in a good place, he had aaron in plain sight and aaron was the most on board he had ever been, the sexual tension was at it's peak, but aaron knows now. the juxtaposition of aaron sick to his stomach due to robert's mere presence and robert looking so blissfully down bad makes me need to gnaw on a metal bar😮‍💨 and the attempt at a forehead touch that aaron ducks away from!!! robert is so happy and it's all about to come crumbling out from underneath him!! AND HE FUCKING DESERVES IT🤤 july 2015 forever the best robron month, it's just a goldmine for amazing content.

ship: aaron dingle/robert sugden

word count: 2319

episode coda for 17/07/26

He stopped and stared for a while at the crime scene before him, hay bales toppled where Robert had stood. It was just hay. Soft and harmless, shouldn't have been enough to topple a man like Robert, who got knocked about once a month by fists and cars and shovels and hammers–

Aaron clenched his fists. He would be better. He would protect him better.

In the corner of his eye, he saw something move behind the trailer, and he raised his fists by reflex.

“You can take those down, I'm not gonna jump ya.” Serena stepped out from behind the car with her hands raised. “I'm just here to talk.”

lets pretend its dom's birthday today and not two months ago, yes?? everyone on board? good :)

I can't seem to let myself leave you (but I can't breathe anymore)

@stuckinanothertimezone

Aaron/Robert (2025, Explicit, 53.9K)

Aaron doesn't register the first symptom. Or he does, but he doesn’t think much of it, his mind foggy with pleasure, his forehead pressed against the wall, nails scraping the raw timber. There’s just the slightest itchiness in the back of his throat, surely caused by the cold winter air and strained shouts Aaron has been trying to swallow down unsuccessfully, his voice echoing in a freezing space of the barn. aka It's 2015. Katie is alive, Robert is getting married, and Aaron is quietly dying.

Of course this fic would have to be a Mega Monday one day, because it is mega!! The Hanahaki Disease fic which launched a thousand ships. It's angsty, it's smutty, it's heartbreakingly, tummy achingly sad. The perfect way to ramp up the affair era angst to the absolute max and beyond.

Happy Monday Everyone!

ship: aaron dingle/robert sugden

word count: 2319

episode coda for 17/07/26

He stopped and stared for a while at the crime scene before him, hay bales toppled where Robert had stood. It was just hay. Soft and harmless, shouldn't have been enough to topple a man like Robert, who got knocked about once a month by fists and cars and shovels and hammers–

Aaron clenched his fists. He would be better. He would protect him better.

In the corner of his eye, he saw something move behind the trailer, and he raised his fists by reflex.

“You can take those down, I'm not gonna jump ya.” Serena stepped out from behind the car with her hands raised. “I'm just here to talk.”

lets pretend its dom's birthday today and not two months ago, yes?? everyone on board? good :)

ship: aaron dingle/robert sugden

word count: 2319

episode coda for 17/07/26

He stopped and stared for a while at the crime scene before him, hay bales toppled where Robert had stood. It was just hay. Soft and harmless, shouldn't have been enough to topple a man like Robert, who got knocked about once a month by fists and cars and shovels and hammers–

Aaron clenched his fists. He would be better. He would protect him better.

In the corner of his eye, he saw something move behind the trailer, and he raised his fists by reflex.

“You can take those down, I'm not gonna jump ya.” Serena stepped out from behind the car with her hands raised. “I'm just here to talk.”

lets pretend its dom's birthday today and not two months ago, yes?? everyone on board? good :)

Things He Did for Her Because of Him

by ao3: dirtylittlegreasemonkey

Aaron/Robert (2016, Explicit, 1K)

"He set a date for the wedding because the lad at the pub (Aaron, Aaron, Aaron – round and round and hot on his tongue) was gay." Aaron and Robert's affair told through snapshots of things Robert did and said to Chrissie to mask his escalating feelings for Aaron.

A bite-sized treat for your Thursday!

This fic is a gorgeous little meditation on affair era Robert, the choices he made, the ways he tried so hard to keep all the different parts of himself seperate even when they were all bleeding together.

I realise I’m being far too optimistic but here are some common symptoms of a delayed concussion in case it becomes relevant:

Headaches or dizziness

Brain fog

Mood changes

Memory lapses

Sleep problems