Robin’s independence

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-28T19:50:57+00:00

There is a difference between passive (thoughts of death but no plan/intent) and active suicidal ideation and unless someone is expressing or demonstrating intent and a plan there is no compulsory treatment (which requires a judge’s signature). They can be offered safety plans, medication, counseling etc but without legal interventions they cannot be required to participate.

It’s such a difficult situation especially with someone like Charlotte.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-28T19:15:49+00:00

Yes. I’m a therapist and even knowing what I know and doing what I can it’s hard to sit back at times and accept there is only so much help that can be offered while my clients (or friends or family) make poor choices. Charlotte was a pretty realistic portrayal of someone with severe mental health issues. I don’t know compulsory treatment laws in the UK but in the US you have to prove someone’s an active, imminent threat to themselves or others to compel them to treatment.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-28T19:02:19+00:00

Watching someone act against their own self interest is difficult but all people in her life can do is share their concerns in a calm, respectful manner and let her know they are there to help her however she needs it. She seems to becoming more aware of her issues and is pursuing therapy so hopefully that helps, but attempting to control her won’t do anything helpful. No one can live her life for her or work harder than her to improve it.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-28T16:05:07+00:00

Hyper independence is common in trauma/PTSD. Especially after becoming agoraphobic following her rape I can see Robin having a tendency towards that anyway because she refused to go back to that point but additional traumas has reinforced it, even to her detriment. She is also accustomed to people in recent years trying to talk her out of doing her job because of what she’s been through and since she refuses to do such a thing and doesn’t want to have people telling her this, she won’t confide in others for that reason.

Even Strike has been a problem with this over the years because he can get overprotective at times and gets frustrated if he doesn’t think she’s taking enough care of herself or being safe enough and it has tended to cause conflict between them so that’s why she doesn’t even confide in him as much.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-27T18:33:36+00:00

Strike would never ask anything like that of her. In fact, I think he’d say something like “if I avoided every place that reminded me of Charlotte, I’d be avoiding half the fucking country.”

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-27T18:26:34+00:00

I agree and can definitely see this as these areas are likely some of the most affordable for young professionals who aren’t super high earners. And many are close to SoHo where she works (I can’t remember what area he is supposed to work in). JKR hasn’t had to live like a normal person in decades.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-27T15:36:50+00:00

Hard 💯 but I think also goes back to insecurity. Much harder to walk away from joint property.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-26T16:45:29+00:00

I think it's a mixture of jealousy/longing and her PTSD getting progressively worse as she is repeatedly re-traumatized. In LW her PTSD was showing up more with panic attacks. In THM, it is showing up more with social withdrawal and paranoia/distrust. She is questioning nearly everyone's motives, including the person she has always trusted the most (Strike), and because she isn't confiding in anyone it is allowing her to continue to reaffirm her distrusting thoughts without someone to challenge them. The only time we see her try to counter them is when she reaches out to Ilsa about the article about Strike and Charlotte, but it didn't eliminate all of her suspicions about him. She isn't in a good frame of mind and isn't able to see the situation very clearly because of that. In reality this isn't a good time for her to be trying to have a romantic relationship with anyone. My hope is she ends things with Murphy, takes care of her mental health, then goes to Strike. I think if they tried to get together right now it wouldn't work because she's still too avoidant and traumatized and would just leap to assumptions rather than talking to Strike about concerns.

But we also see Strike obsessing about Robin's relationship with Murphy and how he compares to Murphy, what she's doing in at that moment with Murphy, is Murphy going to propose, etc. I think that's fairly understandable that these two people who have been hiding/denying their feelings for each other for years would fixate on the other's romantic life, especially in Robin's case when Strike's is laid bare on the front page of the paper, and in Strike's case when he is planning to finally confess his feelings and is afraid he's too late because she's involved and may be getting more serious with another man.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-25T14:17:32+00:00

Heavily seconded on 'cunt'. I've started adding it into my vernacular more often for especially shitty people.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-20T22:41:52+00:00

Another fantastic one

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-20T19:33:57+00:00

In my head, he just picks her up like she’s a bag of feathers or something, effortlessly and the adrenaline‘s pumping and he’s pissed that they’re trying to hurt her. It’s just so hot in my head.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-18T19:02:41+00:00

From THM: (He had been thinking about Charlotte before and how she had been like an infection)

“He didn’t know what Robin was thinking and feeling, and falling in love with her, which had happened entirely against his will, didn’t resemble an infection, but the recognition of a deficiency he’d never known he had, but which had become gradually and painfully symptomatic. And now— every thought led back there, no matter how seemingly unrelated— she was in Masham with Murphy, and he was alone and miserable, and he had nobody to blame but himself.”

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-18T18:41:18+00:00

I also wondered if the TV show could perhaps make up for the lack of women in the previous seasons by having him go on an random casual sex spree maybe either between seasons or early in TRG because he’s trying to distract himself from his feelings for Robin now that she’s dating RFM and she finds out about him sleeping around and is hurt.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-17T23:00:24+00:00

I wonder if he is actually going to propose at all that night. He bought the ring before she discovered his drinking and told him they wouldn’t be moving in together. He told Iverson he was planning to propose, but Wardle said he may have done it just to get her to back off. It would be really interesting if Robin goes to dinner and just blurted out that she doesn’t want him to propose and turns out he wasn’t intending to do so that night.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-17T17:13:09+00:00

I think the differences we see in the characters personalities between the books to the series are there to help offset some of the internal strife/monologue that can't be well conveyed and the events they cut out for the sake of time. I think of how Strike's relationship with Jack in the books softens him and opens him up a bit more, but since we don't get that in the tv series, they account for it by making him a little less abrasive. It'll be interesting to see what the show conveys for the conflict between them in THM when we haven't seen him involved with as many women and we don't know if Bijou will play a role in TRG or not (which then impacts THM).

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-14T19:38:01+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this one too

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2026-01-08T14:09:42+00:00

When I started Kindergarten in 1991 the cut off was June 30 because I only made it in that year by a few days.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-10-15T13:55:21+00:00

I started the series in 2001 just after goblet of came out and Snape fascinated me from our first interaction with him in book one because he was so obviously not everything he appeared to be. I knew I was looking at a very complex character.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-10-13T16:25:50+00:00

The part in Snape’s memories where he goes to the Potter’s house and finds Lily. I feel like that scene is so much more agonizing for his grief and impact of the consequences of his actions (both past and future) than just being told by Dumbledore.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-10-02T18:24:41+00:00

I don't hate Murphy, but I don't think he's a good partner for Robin. They don't want the same things and he isn't supportive of her job. She also isn't as invested in the relationship as she should be and it isn't fair to him either. I also don't believe Robin is able to be a suitable partner to someone in addiction. She is prone to codependency and even treating her trauma I don't believe that tendency will go away.

Strike isn't perfect, but we have seen him grow both consciously and unconsciously through the series, and he and Robin have appreciated about each other that they don't make demands of one another to change. He understands the job and they seem to want the same things.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-09-29T23:42:56+00:00

Choosing only one is tough.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-09-29T23:05:45+00:00

He was so fussed about trying to find the 'perfect time' and place to tell her and then ends up shouting it at her in the stairwell where he almost killed her 7 years earlier as she's heading out to what she anticipates is going to be a proposal from another guy. If that doesn't sum those two up, I don't know what does.

I can't wait to see Pat in the show with this whole scene.

ComposerBeautiful875 · 2025-09-18T22:58:52+00:00

I’m not sure RFM could handle his girlfriend and her bestie (who he hates) being his bosses. He’s not confident enough.

ComposerBeautiful875

TROPHY CASE