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othervee · 1 year

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Portrait of a royal family

I love that Young Royals is the kind of show you can re-re-rewatch and discover new stuff every time, because of the care and attention that's gone into it.

For instance - what we learn about the royal family and Wilhelm's place in it, including the unspoken things.

First vision of the royal family, and we see that their space is not theirs. There are thirteen people in this room; courtiers and staff outnumber the family more than 2:1. The family is also divided, with Erik and the Queen (the current and future rulers) standing together attending to business, while Wilhelm and his father are seated and talking. Wilhelm is also separated from his father by the staffer standing between them while she covers up Wilhelm's bruises. There's an array of cosmetic products in front of them; this is something they take seriously, not just a bit of concealer. So not only is Wilhelm unable to lick his wounds in privacy, but the family wants to conceal his injuries; they can't show that he's hurting.

The Queen's first interaction with her youngest son is all about the visuals. She grabs his face to check the makeup job; we don't know whether she actually checked the visible injuries before Wille sat down. It's as if he's a little kid. No boundaries. You could almost see it as an extension of their relationship in general; Wilhelm is at the age where teenagers test boundaries, and his mother is angry and maybe a little scared because of the dangers he's exposing himself to. In a non-royal house, this perhaps wouldn't be quite such a big deal.

Kristina's next act is to slap Wilhelm's hand out of his mouth when he's biting his nails, with an exasperated snap that tells us she's done this a lot and is tired of it. The end result is that everyone in the room witnesses Wilhelm being scolded. Even his "private" humiliation is not private.

What else does this scene tell us? It is not a comfortable, or comforting, environment. The chairs are straight-backed and gilded. The table is covered in the detritus of a working day - laptops, coffee - but it does not look like a convenient place to work. Everyone's quite formally dressed; staff in uniforms or office attire, Erik in his military uniform, Wilhelm and his father in suits, and the Queen in royal blue. Her jewellery is conservative-coded with its tiny pearls and cameo. Dignified, stately, not flashy; stiff; made for show, not comfort; old-fashioned. This is the world Wilhelm uneasily inhabits and has tried to escape.

The scene on the couch is excruciating for Wilhelm and clearly uncomfortable for everyone else. The family are not in harmony; there's not a moment when they all look in the same direction. Ludvig looks like he's thinking about his stamp collection or his stock options or what he wants for dinner. Erik is keeping an excellent neutral expression but his eyes keep moving to Wille, checking out his face and his nervous hands, monitoring how he's feeling. The Queen is also looking at Wilhelm, but it's a pointed look, expectant and also silently saying Get on with it, and don't stuff it up.

We learn more about the family when Erik and Wille arrive at Hillerska. Note that Erik is the one who drives him there, probably taking time away from his Crown Prince duties. Did he offer, knowing it would be easier for Wilhelm? Although he clearly cares about his brother, he's also trusted to do the right thing and deliver him safely. He's part of the apparatus that's setting Wilhelm back into place. (Erik, I think, is not nearly as much on Wille's side as much of the fandom believes; he's just the closest thing Wille has to someone on his side).

August, like the Queen, is all about the image - and grabbing Wille's face without invitation. He's also all about Erik. And I'm sure he's also very aware of all the faces watching them from the window behind them, and the press in front of them, but he sees it as an advantage. He doesn't care about the reality as long as the image is right.

Does Wille find it disconcerting that August and Erik are so closely bonded? Erik clearly intends Wille to think of August as another big brother, an Erik-substitute, but Wille's seeing that there's another 'little brother' in Erik's life and that Erik is leaning in to seeing August again at the moment when Wille needs him most.

August is letting down his guard here. I think this is the most natural, uncalculated reaction we get out of him all season.

Wilhelm is being almost squashed between August and Erik as they talk across him. Again, Erik barely pays Wille any attention while August is around. This would further alienate Wille from him.

And here we really begin to see that, as much as he loves his brother and his brother adores him, Erik is part of the machinery that grinds Wille down. Let's look at his lines in this scene:

He's lived through his own adolescence and his time at Hillerska, and he came around to the establishment way of thinking. Surely Wille will too. So he'll be understanding and kind, but like his parents, he expects Wille to knuckle down. He's not going to encourage Wille to dream of a life beyond the gilded cage.

#young royals analysis #young royals #crown prince erik #young royals wilhelm #queen kristina

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writingfarintothedark · 3 months

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So I saw this opinion from @bitchypuppystarlight saying Simon was "unfair" when being upset with Wille about Alexander taking the fall for the drug situation.

Hm. It is reductive and unfair (haha) in my opinion to say only Simon was "unfair" in this situation. The whole situation was unfair and messed up, Simon and Wille had their reasons for what they did, but they were both in the wrong.

Something this show clearly did in season 1 is show how people and situations are multifaceted- characters in this show are rarely completely "right" or "wrong"- they all have their justifications for doing what they did. So it is interesting to see a take that completely blames Simon- especially in THIS situation, which was one of the most complicated and messy plotlines in the show, where Wille made his fair share of mistakes as well. In fairness, I do think most people caught onto that this was meant to be a complicated issue.

I'm not sure I am following the opinion "Wilhelm had nothing to do with the whole thing." Wilhelm...willingly TOOK the drugs Simon sold? And the "Society" was almost caught taking those drugs, which would have landed Wille in deep shit, so he very much had A LOT to do with the whole thing. That was the point- Simon AND Wilhelm were totally entangled in this situation. Wilhelm is not blameless here.

It was pretty clear that the fight Wilhelm and Simon had in the music room showed the hypocrisy/double standards when it comes to how working class poc (like Simon) vs the rich elite would be treated in this entire debacle- Wille calls Simon selling drugs "low", but he was the one who TOOK those drugs as well.

It wasn't like the Society was going to fess up collectively with Simon- their plan was to pin it ALL on Simon. Their plan was to screw Simon over, and to get away scot-free because the words of the rich white boys would be valued above Simon's, a non-res. How is that fair? So Simon was rightfully upset at those implications.

THEN what the Society ended up doing was blaming the whole thing on Alexander. So again, they lied and threw someone under the bus. If we understand Simon's character at all, it'd be obvious why he would be "indignant" with that- it is unjust! He doesn't like unfair things, that was established about his character from day one and he was intentionally written like that- to contrast the entitled attitudes the elite students at Hillerska have. Simon likely had residual anger at being the potential scapegoat, and then he found out another boy was the scapegoat. Why would he be happy that Alexander got thrown under the bus for something Alexander had a minimal part in, while the most privileged group of boys didn't? Why would Simon condone that? Why is that something to celebrate?

And I think "indignant" is a strong word to use in that situation anyway...Simon pretty quickly came around, accepted the situation, and comforted Wille. He saw that Wille was in a tough mental spot, with a lot of pressure, and that Wille just wanted to help Simon. Simon immediately hugged him and they made up.

Simon and Wille are BOTH very much in the wrong here, as is everyone in the Society. They all fucked up- that is the point! They're human! They make mistakes! But they all had their reasons. Simon has none of the privileges these other students have, and he was trying to navigate this environment to take care of his sister and his grades. Wille had just lost his brother and was facing this new pressure of being Crown Prince. They had their reasons for what they did, but that doesn't make it right. And clearly, they paid for these mistakes later down the line.

We're not supposed to condone these actions, we're supposed to understand them though, and pointing the finger at any one person in this situation is reductive.

#young royals #wilmon #simon eriksson #prince wilhelm

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heliza24 · 1 month

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Hello!

I'd like to hear your thoughts about August's letter to himself. I was very surprised by it and frankly couldn't believe that his status could have been so low in Hillerska (since he's so close to the royal family) and then turn upside down in a short amount of time. Then again the focus of my attention has never been so keenly on August. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Also, sorry, if you have already posted about this. In that case, could you point me in the right direction?

Hello! Thank you for this question. I haven’t written about it yet, so let’s talk about it! (Also, I consulted @bluedalahorse on this one as my favorite August expert so you are getting both of us for the price of one.)

I think it’s worth remembering that the Hillerska initiation and prefect system is designed to emotionally isolate first years and make them dependent on third years. August went through a really abusive initiation first thing when he arrived at Hillerska. He was basically sexually assaulted, and part of that assault was the third years laughing at anyone who displayed difference or vulnerability (ie anyone who got turned on from the porn video, or presumably anyone who tried to protest or back out from the “test”). The initiation puts him in competition with his peers right away, and teaches him that the third years hold the key to him either being accepted or laughed at until he himself is a third year and holds the power they do now. The insidious thing about these types of initiations is that they often effectively pull people in to an abusive system. They create a trauma bond between the older and the younger students, and they create a sense of survivors bias— we survived this, it’s just the way it is, and now we must do it (at least to an extent) to the new students under us. So the initiation August went through was effective in creating a sense of inferiority within him. It was also effective in fostering competitive relationships between the Forest Hill boys that don’t have a lot of emotional intimacy. I think you can see that in August, Nils, and Vincent’s relationship as third years.

So that’s one element of it. Another is where August was coming from when he landed in this abusive system. His father had just died by suicide. That means he would’ve been in the pits of grief, but also potentially full of guilt. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to imagine that he might have felt in someway responsible for letting his father down or felt like he had a duty to be stoic and support his mother (in the same way that Wilhelm did) instead of healthily processing his grief. All those emotions, combined with an environment where he cannot share those emotions, contributed to August feeling lonely and broken in someway.

I think it’s likely that August, Nils, and Vincent became friends early on, but August’s own insecurities kept him from realizing that those friends really liked him, and the Hillerska culture kept him from being really open with them. There’s also the fact that his closeness to the royal family might make him question the genuineness of friendships even more- do they really like me as a person or do they just like me because of my preassigned status? And that could make him more insecure.

So of course he’s going to look at Erik, who has all the power of a third year plus the absolute security of knowing that he belongs and is very valued by his family, and envy what he has. He’s going to see that Erik is well respected at school and he’s going to do everything he can to be close to Erik, in order to emulate him and also to feel like someone is filling that empty father-shaped hole in his life. I think August is clearly a very adept leader and builder of community when he puts in an effort. I think you can see that when he calls the whole room to silence during the sit in. So it’s not super surprising to me that August accomplished his goal and became a powerful player in the Hillerska system quite quickly.

So those are my thoughts on August’s rocky early years at Hillerska. I hope it was useful!

#young royals #my meta #ask box #currently accepting silly and serious young royals questions!#august horn

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goldenwilmon · 3 years

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I’ve been thinking a lot about Simon and Wilhelm’s relationship dynamics (sparked by conversations inspired by @ungaroyals post and @omar-rudeberg post), and I can’t help but think about how Simon and Willie’s parents’ relationships are reflected in their own relationship dynamics.

(Disclaimer that I am no expert in family/relationship dynamics; this post is brought to you by my bachelor’s degree in psychology, and my one year of experience in social work combined with this show constantly occupying my thoughts.)

From what we see of Willie’s parents, it is clear that Kristina is the dominant one in the relationship, her actions motivated by protecting the Crown. Willie’s father either does not speak up against Kristina or he is entirely absent from these scenes. The only moment we see him advocate for Willie is when he suggests Willie return to Hillerska to be in a familiar environment after Erik’s funeral. However, even this moment is not in any disagreement with Kristina. This is not to justify Willie’s actions of putting himself as Crown Prince before Simon in their relationship, only to note that if this is the main example of a relationship that Willie grew up with, he may subconsciously be putting himself and the Crown before Simon, and expect Simon to be more passive as we see with Willie’s parents.

For Simon, we don’t know exactly when Linda left Micke, but we do know it was recent enough that Sara and Simon remember their father’s actions (and Sara makes it clear that she did not think it was soon enough). Carmen explained in her Permanent Rain Press interview, that she believes Linda tried to work it out with Micke which is why she stayed with him for as long as she did. I believe Linda only had good intentions for her family (and of course there were several other factors that determined when Linda could leave Micke), but this still affected her children. Simon grew up with his mother giving his father chances to receive help and put their family first. Although not as extreme circumstances, we see Simon start to reflect this dynamic by giving Willie multiple chances throughout s1.

From what we know of Willie and Simon’s families, neither of them grew up with healthy examples of love and relationships. But they both have moments where they are learning to break free from these dynamics- Willie communicating his feelings to Simon, and Simon setting boundaries for himself in ep6. I have hope that as they continue to grow, they can grow into learning healthy love for themselves and each other.

I hope we see further exploration of their family dynamics in s2, and I hope we see Willie and Simon receive the healthy love and support they both deserve.

#someone please get these boys into therapy in s2 #they have experienced too much trauma and grief #it breaks my heart #also shoutout to the omar convent for the best conversations that inspire these thoughts #young royals #young royals analysis #wilhem x simon #wilmon #simon x wilhelm #simon eriksson #prince wilhelm #young royals simon #young royals wilhelm

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levok · 2 years

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Regarding Sara and diagnosis age… she could have gotten diagnosed pretty early on too, been one of the lucky ones. Both disorders are inheritable, so they might have know what to look for, or at least to pay attention for signs if they already knew Micke had ADHD. Another thing that interests me is that she seems quite comfortable with her diagnoses, she doesn’t shy away from talking about it or display any shame or insecurity about it, it’s just part of her. (Of course, what one presents doesn’t necessarily reflect what they’re feeling inside).

One of the things about having diagnoses is that it frequently takes some time for a person to be comfortable with it, esp to talk about it with other people, people they don’t know, esp in environments with so much judgement and trauma. Trauma being the bullying at the old school, judgement in that Hillerska is very judgemental. Would be every interesting to learn more about Sara and Micke’s relationship, including how she feels about sharing a diagnosis with her dad, taking medication that helps her and that he abuses.

We’ve also got no idea what things were like for Sara and Simon growing up, how long it took for things to be bad. Maybe their first few years were really nice, and then something caused Micke’s addiction to start or worsen. There’s endless possibilities on what their life was before the separation.

But on a whole, Sara (and her family) seems very comfortable with her diagnoses, which to me, esp given how young she is and how difficult her life has been so far, shows that it’s normalized and they’re long past the processing part that comes with diagnoses

I've also thought a lot about how comfortable Sara is with her diagnoses. She definitely doesn't let herself define by them. They are just a part of her, like so many other things are (I love that!)...

And that also made me believe she must have had them for some time.

I don't think Micke abuses his adhd meds though, I think he is addicted to his pain medicine and alcohol. But she also doesn't seem to have an issue with alcohol, where Simon choose not to touch it.

I feel like we NEED to get more on Sara's story in s2 - not just with the whole august thing, but also her relationship with Micke.

It was a pretty big thing in s1, but never something we got any answers to. Her and Simon's seems to have such a different approach/relationship with him, and I really need to know why/how/what they went though. Did one of them protect/shield the other from Micke, or?

They also have a very different view on how their mom dealt with it/how she should have dealt with it. Sara seems to have a lot of anger inside of her, that Simon doesn't... I need them to dive into this!

#ask #young royals

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