scatteredpiecesofme

[scatteredpiecesofme]

I really enjoy how skilled Young Royals was at taking a seemingly background character and imbuing them with history and personality with just a few lines. For example:

Poppe Ehrencrona.

Before we ever meet him, we know from Madison that he is one of the richest men in Sweden and according to August the Ehrencrona's are "modern nobility.'

When we see him in person, he comes across as somewhat full of himself, holding open his arms to receive his daughter like a lord awaiting tribute. And the fact that his wife is The Worst does not reflect well on Poppe.

I dismissed him as vaguely nice but also so fully immersed in the upper class' mores that he was blind to any problems or issues, including those his daughter faced.

But then Season 3 gave us this:

To me this indicates that he was not part of the class system until he went to Hillerska. Maybe his parents were the first to get rich, or he was from a wealthy family that just immigrated to Sweden. Either way Hillerska and the society it embodied was a shock to him. And I wonder how long he held on to his own style before concluding it was futile. But even then, he didn't give up, not exactly. He goes on:

"I learnt early on that I . . . I had to be ten times better than everyone else. Then they had nothing on me. That's how you win."

And OMFG, that hit hard. Because I was told that growing up, and internalized that, and it was true that especially and sadly it remains true to this day in America. A person of color's failures are judged more harshly and result in harsher consequences and penalties, and in many environments we have to be exceptional to even be placed in the same category as an average white dude. The concept of beating them at their own game is definitely a THING.

Poppe decided to do just that, apparently, best them at their own game and make sure he outshown them all. And he succeeded! He survived Hillerska, he excelled, he became richer than every person who called him a slur or denigrated him, and he married the beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed noblewoman (who was surely a sought after prize). And I bet they hated and resented him for Symsan because that marriage opened doors that his riches alone would not have. Now his daughter is good enough to be Hillerska's Queen Bee and a strong and valid contender for marrying into the royal family. What a coup that would have been.

But in beating them at their own game, he lost something too. He recognizes the racism (unlike some) but has just accepted it as The Way Things Are and no barrier to enjoying everything else. He tells Felice "play by the rules ..." and is cut off and I can imagine several ways he could have finished that sentence. It puts a different context to Felice saying in S1 that he dad just wants her to get good grades: he expects her to follow his path by excelling and thus rising above any adversity.

Poppe has lost the ability to conceive of a world that could be different, where someone could have their own style and still succeed and be accepted. That conformity to the system is not the only choice.

I really hope that Felice will be able to tell her dad what she did and why because I really want to hope that he, above anyone, could understand and accept and even be proud. Because Felice outpaced him. She went to Hillerska in conformity but then developed her own style and flourished after doing so, ultimately fighting back in a way he gave up trying. She succeeded where he couldn't. And isn't that what every parent should want for their child?

#young royals #young royals analysis #felice ehrencrona #yr s3

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Is Wille actually friends with Walter and Henry? Or is it just that they are around each other a lot because they sort-of live together and they want to hang out with the Crown Prince, who is good at being civil (when he wants to be)

#young royals

[scatteredpiecesofme]

I heard people are mad because they feel like August should be apologizing to Simon also, and I think that’s like, a no-brainer because of course he will – – he’s changed now. He’s not the same person who did that thing so – – we saw him suffer and now he apologized to Wille whom he knows and then – – I’m sure when [August and Simon] meet, he’s going to talk to [Simon] about it too. Linnéa Roxeheim, director of S3 eps 5& 6, PRP interview 59:00-59:22 (– – used for legibility, the redacted phrase is 'you know')

So...this kind of seems to confirm something I've been thinking since I watched the season: the lack of apology from August to Simon feels less like an intentional, character-defining writing choice and more like a mishap overlooking or even retconning the August-Simon conflict.

Some thoughts under the cut.

That conflict was one of the central building blocks and driving forces back in S1. Simon wouldn't have ended up selling drugs if it wasn't for August looking to buy, Wille wouldn't have found out about August's finances and been able to use them against him, and Alexander would not have been framed to save Simon. And for that matter, August's eagerness to pin the blame on Simon was likely fuelled by the fact that he wasn't just a sosse sleeping with Wille, but also a constant thorn in August's side. Someone who had even physically roughed August up at one point.

Still, I do believe August's decision to post the video mainly concerned Wille. I've written about that too many times to rehash it again; let's just take his dismissive reaction when Sara says Simon is distraught in S1E6 at face value. And that made perfect sense for his character, considering his only moral code at the time was (elite) loyalty.

However. From S2 on, the history between August and Simon has been sidelined, and the focus has been on the conflict between August and Wille.

We didn't see Simon suffer any more daily consequences from the video in S2. He could already sing karaoke in Bjärstad without people giving him dirty looks, and both the rumour mill at Hillerska and the hate comments online had stopped. Not being allowed to sing his song at the Jubilee was a concrete consequence, but even that felt more like an obstacle for Wilmon and an opportunity for Wille to stand up for them. Simon and August barely even interacted over the season - but at least Simon did refer to Sara knowing everything August had done to him in the gun range scene, so that was something.

I had hoped for the August-Simon conflict to be picked up again in S3. Even if the writers wanted to focus on other relationships and tensions, to me, it felt too essential to pass up. It would have been a clear sign of August learning the accountability and empathy that he needed to grow, and it would have also provided some much-needed closure for Simon (and tied the series together as a whole). I guess the writers felt differently.

Even though the focus on Simon getting hate on social media again could have provided an easy tie-in, the vile hate messages focused on his and Wille's relationship, as well as him being a POC. Apart from Linda's comment in the settlement negotiation, I don't think the video was even mentioned once in all the hate comments we saw. There was no indication of the media or the public having dragged it back up either (or asked who filmed and leaked it, but that's another matter entirely). Nor were there any references to Simon having already received some hate after the leak - on the contrary, it seemed like he was completely blindsided by all the vitriol. I do realise that the scale was much bigger this time around, but still.

Circling back to the August-Simon conflict, there's also another aspect that is easily overlooked. Namely, that Simon himself actually seemed pretty content to just put all his dealings with August to rest after the settlement was finalised. The only time the two of them even interacted after that was all about Sara. It could have also been an opportunity to show Simon's own feelings, but that didn't materialise.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Simon could still use that apology, but I never got the impression that he needed it the way we fans needed to see it. Based on S3, you might even think their only source of conflict was Simon coincidentally being on the video, and when that was settled, Simon was okay just moving on with his life.

Which brings me back to the ending.

I always figured that August was portrayed as genuinely remorseful towards the end. Yes, I would have liked to see more of his growth and development (even just showing his reaction to the sale of Årnäs instead of having Simon say that Wille said it was a fitting punishment would've worked wonders)... But the authorial intent seemed to be that he had already taken enough steps. His and Wille's reconciliation was as sincere as anything could get, with Wille not forgiving him as such but agreeing to move on, start healing, and even wish each other well. Wille was sincere when he congratulated August upon graduation and tapped him as the next king, thinking he was well suited for the job (it's the narrative that frames it as a sort of punishment, not Wille).

Crucially, Simon doesn't seem bothered by this. If both Wille and August had truly just ignored the harm caused to Simon and reconciled amongst themselves, with Wille essentially giving August the position that everyone but August still thought was all August ever wanted...while Simon was still hurting and needing the closure of an apology...well. That would actually make Wille look like kind of a terrible partner even right at the end, which clearly wasn't the intention.

We can't be sure if Wille told Simon about the reconciliation when they talked at the lake, but Simon will still know that Wille stepping down means August stepping up, and he is happy about it. Wilmon are off to start a new chapter in their lives, and we don't get the feeling that the lack of an apology to Simon is left as an unresolved issue between them (or between them and August).

So...yeah. I guess I'm just trying to point out that this seems to be another example of a previously important plot line being dropped from S3, and to a lesser degree, also another example of execution vs. authorial intent.

#young royals #young royals analysis #yr s3

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Does anyone know what books Wille are returning in the last episode? I’m only seeing the Karin Boye and Kjell Westö at the top and then I’ve tried and failed to make screen shots of it. I just want to know what books Wille has read. Also I feel like people seem to miss the fact that Wille likes to read? Even though we haven’t seen him actually read, he always have books in his room and the Karin Boye quote on the wall❤️ Also the Kjell Westö one looked really interesting and relevant to the general plot of the show with class and love in class differences so I might have to read that one but I’m just so curious about Wille’s other books.

📚

#so interesting! #thank you!! #young royals

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Edvin hairstyle battle heat one

Linus Ek vs Wille season 2-3

Linus Ek

Wille season 2-3

#linus ek #I hate S2-S3 hair with a passion

[scatteredpiecesofme]

so i watched The Video (tm) lisa tweeted out and may have ended up with a full running commentary...

before i say anything else: i wanna make it clear that i'm not saying james somerton's take on the portrayal/gaze of the rich young royals is, as a whole, bad. there are actually a lot of points he made that i agree with, it's just the bringing together of those points to form an argument and derive a conclusion off of, as well as how he relates it to young royals, that i feel was a bit of a reach. so i just wanted to clarify that i do appreciate him for taking the time to put together this video essay, even if it didn't necessarily work for me. it did still give me lots of food for thought.

now, hold onto your hats. this is going to be long.

1. BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO OR READING ANY RESPONSES

first, for context, here's my immediate response to lisa's tweet, before i even watched the video. looking back on it after having watched the video, i think i still feel pretty much the same.

2. BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO BUT AFTER READING SOME OF THE RESPONSE

i also jotted down some of my thoughts as i started seeing the discourse around it online, again before i watched the video:

a comment from the video came my way implying... that portraying happy middle-class/poor people is somehow unrealistic... i don't think i can agree with that

i mean, yes, capitalism is absolute shit, especially to middle-class/poor people. that's not to say they're always thinking about the utter misery that is their lives?

plus we do see simon's family deal with the pressures of not having money, so it's not like they're pretending those don't exist

this is my main gripe with this entire thing-- the erikssons are just not poor. it's very privileged of US middle-class folk to think of ourselves as tragically oppressed by capitalism when there are people who have it so, SO much worse

(insert the whole "but just because my problems are not that bad doesn't mean they're not valid!" argument here-- yes, i know. that's not what i'm saying. it's just, rich people aren't the only ones who are privileged and people tend to forget that in their analysis, so it needs to be pointed out)

see that's my thing with the "why do we focus on the problems of the rich?" argument-- i find it equally dehumanizing. yes, capitalism predisposes us to put rich people on an aspirational pedestal that isn't real and it's fair to demand media focus more on the opposite end of the class spectrum. but i object to linking people's humanity, and the empathy we should have for them as fellow human beings, with the size of their bank account, whether it's because they have too much money or too little. rich people can also struggle, and i think it's fair (and sometimes necessary) to tell stories of that struggle, too. there's an argument to be made that we maybe focus too much on the stories of rich people, and i don't disagree. but picking on one specific show that does it like it's representative of all the evils of capitalism seems a bit much to me. wille (and felice, and august, etc...) is a human being regardless of his status and i'm sure his problems and struggles resonate with many viewers out there, even though most of us aren't royalty or are even rich. we all can relate to having to deal with our personal issues while navigating our privilege. i would never feel like that story shouldn't be told. and with simon there, we also get to see ourselves reflected on a character on the other end of the spectrum, as well. we get to see and empathize with both sides, because they're all HUMAN BEINGS despite their differences, which i think is something we really urgently need more of in this world.

(note that i'm not saying the video implies this. i actually haven't watched it yet, i'm just about to 😂 those were just the thoughts that came to my head as i read the responses)

3. RUNNING COMMENTARY AS I WATCHED THE VIDEO

and then i moved into actually watching the video and commenting live. you may be able to follow along as you watch, but it took me like two hours to get through it because i had to keep pausing/rewinding. 😂

watching the video now and... LOL it has like full-on opening credits 😂 i don't know why i found that so funny

i... am not sure i like the tone of this

"attending hillerska through scholarships" no 🙄 seriously, where do people get this idea??

okay yeah i'm not liking this. you have 43 minutes to change my mind about you, dude, tread carefully

did he just say simon doesn't deal with his own emotional ties and only struggles with wilhelm's??? DID WE WATCH THE SAME SHOW???????

i do like the flipped cinderella comparison, though

okay i'm actually getting a little bit angry now. it's rich to say the show doesn't delve into simon's own issues when in reality it's just this analysis willfully ignoring that YES, IT DOES

like, yes, the point of how portraying the wealthy/royals as flawed human beings is capitalist/monarchist propaganda is a good point. yes to that. but that doesn't necessarily imply that the PoV of the lower-class people is ignored in favor of making their lives seem perfect/happy to show that poverty isn't that bad?? that's a leap, my dude. maybe i can see that in the crown, but definitely not in YR

oh he did NOT just reduce the choir scene to a "service" simon is performing for wilhelm. THAT'S NOT WHAT IT WAS ABOUT *head explodes*

disagree about "poor people are better off because they have freedom." VERY much disagree with this.

the LAST thing simon would ever do is imply that people should feel grateful they are poor, omg what is this

i appreciate the deep dive into shameless but if he plans to compare shameless to YR i feel like that is a massively unfair comparison

the CEOs vs royals point is good, though

LOLing at the trump point because yep, i completely agree

i don't think the show is at any point trying to imply simon is "impoverished," though. he keeps making this point, and i don't think it's the flex he thinks he is. he's falling into the trap of seeing things from the rich people's PoV because that's what the rich people do in the show-- when that doesn't necessarily mean the audience sees him that way, or that the show is saying he should be seen that way. you're falling into the exact propaganda system you're trying to denounce, my dude

also that's not AT ALL what rosh and ayub's reaction to simon's aggressiveness to august was about, nope, hard disagree

.............................................i'm just sitting here laughing at the way he pronounced "august" 🤣

ok i'm about halfway through and my thoughts are: good points are made. most of the putting together of those points to make an argument is... a reach

also i am not entirely sure this person actually watched the show, or maybe that's just how people who only watch the show once actually manage to get from the show, and it differs from my experience having watched it at least a dozen times

i feel like he's trying so hard to be snarky. and usually i like snarky, but i feel it's wholly unnecessary for this topic. i'm having a hard time separating the content from the tone

love that he makes the point that intellectuals glorify dourness right after he went on a 10-minute spiel about how much better shameless is

basically saying that shameless focuses on the struggles of a lower-class family trying to make its way out of poverty while YR focuses on the struggles of a rich/royal kid being mildly inconvenienced

i'm not commenting on shameless per se-- i've never watched it, but i've heard it's very good. i'm just saying, comparing it to YR feels like apples and oranges to me... and then he goes into that whole section about dourness and the glorification of tragedy... my man...

YR is not a tragedy. tattoo that on my forehead and carve it on my tombstone

..................what was this point about aristotle and mitochondria, whut 🤨

yeah i was wondering why he was equating drama to tragedies... not the same thing, dude

okay, bonus points for quoting carrie fisher

i feel it's also a reach to say that all of wilhelm's issues save for the death of his brother are a product of his own choices. some are, sure. maybe even most. but i think he's ignoring the level to which wille's life is out of his control. i certainly don't think the sex tape being produced OR released to the public is something he had any control over, and (while certainly NOT to the level of how society limits lower-class people) the monarchy itself does exert some level of control over him, which generates his internal struggle. should the show be more balanced about this vs the struggles of non-rich people? sure, that's a debate we can have. but don't put the faults of the system on the individual character's choices. it's as much of a fallacy as saying we can fix climate change by recycling our day-to-day trash. wille is a pawn of the system as the rest of us are-- perhaps on a lower level than those of us less privileged, but he still is, particularly because he's a kid. he has very little choice in the grand scheme of things. could he, perhaps, make the choice of saying "to hell with this" and renounce his birthright and live the life he wants to live? sure. but he's sixteen. are we really expecting him to? at least the characters in shameless are mostly grown up.

"according to young royals, being poor is actually kinda great! MUCH better than being rich" he just said this. again. why.

it's a pet peeve of mine when people equate "working class" to "poor"-- they are not the same, and it masks the issues that the people who are legit poor have. this dude keeps doing it over and over again.

like, i could make an argument that, while simon is 100% much better off than actual poor people, that doesn't mean his life is perfect. which it's not, and we see that on the show. but i guess this analysis just misses that?

yeah, i was just thinking that... like, micke might be poor by swedish standards? the rest of them are not

i hate this. i hate this so much.

i feel like i don't understand what solution he's offering with this analysis, if any. like, what should we as a society do with our depiction of class in media, then? never write stories about rich people? write stories exclusively about poor people struggling in life and never being happy? i don't understand what the endgame of this is. yes, it's not necessarily good to frame lower-class people as "having a better life" than those "poor sad unfulfilled rich people" so the capitalist system can make sure the lower classes don't revolt against it. but the solution is not simply to make every piece of media be about the struggle. it's the same for LGBTQ+ people, for marginalized races or religions, you name it. there is SOME value in showing that a marginalized group can also achieve a happy life despite overwhelming odds against it, and without having to "escape" that group (ie getting rich, "passing," staying in the closet). the goal of these happier portrayals is not to uphold the oppressive system, but so that our souls are not crushed by the weight of the knowledge that we can't escape that oppression. i think that's valid. he's somehow intent on making it sound like a bad thing.

"we overinflate the freedom of poverty, and omit the ways that a lack of wealth fundamentally stifles individual freedoms" yes, of course, showing how the poor struggle with oppression, i can't believe no one's thought to make a show/movie/book about that ever 🙄

"the poor in general have to dedicate a lot of their time and energy to not being destitute" WHOA that's a sentence. my dude. i'm just sitting here staring at his jacket and his glasses like...

"it's not fair to expect the poor to liberate the rich when the poor cannot liberate themselves" THEY'RE SIXTEEN, JESUS

he is putting WAY too much on the kids on this show, i swear to god

why did he not make this video about the crown?? this video would've been SO much better if it was about the crown. and hell, even in the ONE segment he actually mentions the crown, the example he uses is... charles not wanting to go to a boarding school his family is requiring him to attend. hey, maybe next time more focus on the adults, perhaps?? y'know, the people who can actually make a difference with their choices??

"why do we obsess over rich people so much?" listen. i know people might not want to hear this, or accept this on a personal level, but knowing that people who have it better than us also have shitty lives makes us feel better about our own lives. and i know that's your point, but you keep avoiding the fact that sometimes we NEED that so that our own problems don't overwhelm us. the point is not to make us satisfied of our own lives; it's to make us not want to jump off a bridge when we realize how unsatisfying our lives are. let us have that, man.

"leave some of your favorite emotional support poors in the comments below" OH MY GOD, STOP IT

he does say at the end that he liked YR and he's not trying to put all of this on one specific piece of media. which, great. but also i just sat through 46 minutes of him doing exactly that 🤔

i am not socialist enough to enjoy this, i think that's where the problem lies lol

"but the part that frustrates me is that even while i'm condemning the use of emotional support poors in media... don't you kinda wish it would happen to you?" LOL NOPE. not even in the SLIGHTEST. 😂 i sometimes enjoy watching it on tv, though!

"there is a literal never-ending flow of media material talking about how miserable the rich are, specifically because they're rich" yes, because "poor" people don't need to be reminded every five seconds of how terrible OUR lives are, thankyouverymuch. we see it every day when we, y'know, live our lives. that's why it's called escapism.

it just occurred to me that he started this whole video essay making the point that he was talking about YR because it's not just "regular" wealth but has the royal component to it... and then spent like 3/4 of the thing speaking about YR solely in terms of wealth. and using it to make points about billionaires and other "regular" wealthy people. 🤔 maybe you should've spent some time talking about your head of state, my dude

i hated the ending. i mean i don't disagree. i just don't think it's fair to spend 50+ minutes talking about how YR glorifies the rich and then be like "but at least it taught me a valuable lesson!" no, my friend. that lesson is what the show was going FOR. you just missed that.

quoting myself here, i'm gonna say "good points are made. most of the putting together of those points to make an argument is... a reach" is still my overall conclusion, i think

oof, this has been a JOURNEY. 😂 idk, maybe someone will find my thoughts interesting. just don't come for my head if you disagree lol

#I completely missed this post back then #so many good points #young royals

[scatteredpiecesofme]

I've been so happy with queer representation in Young Royals. I also have notes. Here are some musings about season three.

We didn't get to see many ripple effects of Wille coming out in the show, but trust me, the world changed the moment he held that speech at the end of season two.

Nils and Stedrica

Nils found the courage to come out to his best friends. We don't know how much he was directly affected by Wilhelm. The common struggle with restrictions and the the graduation seemed to tighten the bond between August, Vincent and Nils. Honesty was a strong thread of the season. Wille's confession inspired students to come forward about iniations, later even August yelled at people to stop arguing and to just be sad about Hillerska closing—to be honest about their feelings.

We can make a mental leap and say that Nils was affected by these events and found his courage to be more honest. He also complimented Wille on his bravery and asked the prince if he regretted coming out and Wille answered with a firm no.

I liked how Nils said that he 'sleeps with guys'. You could see how hard it was for him to tell him friends. In season two Nils uses the word 'gay' about himself to Wille. I like how YR shows how people can use different definitions of themselves in different situations or choose to be unlabeled. I got a feeling that this was a huge first step on Nils' journey to accept that part of himself.

Stella and Fredrika are minor characters so they didn't get much screentime regarding their romance. Them ending up together was motivated by something the show explored in season two with Simon, Marcus and Wilhelm—jealousy. While I enjoyed Rosh being frustrated with her gaydar, Stedrica's arc left me wanting. In season two, Stella told Sara that she hesitates to make a move on Fredrica in fear of losing her beast friend if they break up later and things get awkward.

In season three we weren't shown what made Stella feel like she and Fredrica have a good enough chance to succeed in their relationship to put their friendship on the line. It's a shame. I would have loved to see some character development.

The audience is introduced to the sexual side of Stedrica straight after the white party when emotions ran high, Rosh was there to hit more on Stella and the teens were drinking and partying their hearts out. At the time of Stedrica's hook-up Wilmon were broken up, demonstrating exactly what Stella was afraid of—losing the other person completely. We can say that Wilmon didn't set up an encouraging example for them.

Even though Frederica's face looks blissful with Stella, I'm left wondering, am I supposed to read their kissing as a passing fancy that they can play down as part of their friendship again. ("every girl makes out with her best friend while drunk")

I was hoping for some connection to the main story with their arc. It could have been something with honesty, one remark from Stella to Madison for example: "I can't keep lying to my best friend."

Choosing the foundation

Queer matters were lifted to the table and discussed in the scene where Wille needs to pick his charity. Good for Simon for encouraging Wille to use his platform. I especially loved hearing that Wille knows how his love for Simon is changing the world. Not bad for a sixteen year old who's been out of the closet for five seconds.

Let me say this clearly: Queer people don't have to represent a group they identify with, not even Crown Prince Wilhelm. A young person's identity is rarely so strong yet, that they have the strength to carry the public's negative reactions. We saw how much online hate hurt Simon. He and Wille both have the right to protect their identities and relationship. Simon deserved better help with his social media.

Wille told Simon in season one that he doesn't want to say anything (referring to the sex video). At the end of season two, Wille took it back in his speech, but his attitude didn't change. It was a part Wille wanted to keep as private as he could. Over time, Wille could talk about both his mental health and his queerness more openly and in a way that would affect change. He has time to do so when he grows up.

I thought that the pressure for Wille to use his queer identity for good press would have come from the monarchy. It was mentioned once when Farima talked about new royalists and then dropped altogether.

I don't know why YR wanted to differ from the real Swedish monarchy in this instant and rule out LGBTQIA topics as political, when in real life the Crown Princess has taken a stand for them. (Plot reasons, duh, but it's irritating. I was under the impression that for example the amount of LGBTQIA rights and the discrimination LGBTQIA people face are on the same level in real life Sweden and in the YR universe. When one detail doesn't match, it makes the whole foundation wobbly).

That said, LGBTQIA rights don't exist in a vacuum. Sport and health foundation is a brilliant and super topical place to advance non-discrimination and inclusion in sport. Wille could advance LGBTQIA rights without drawing attention to himself when he's underage, perhaps still figuring out his identity and in his first relationship with a boy.

I can't stress enough how impactful it would be to have a queer Crown Prince (or King!) patronage a sport foundation. We can see that the pictures in the launch event of the foundation are taken with diversity in mind. Even if this is a PR strategy on the Court's part, people far removed from the court are going to work in those charities every day. And what do people think about when they see Wille's name and title associated with the foundation? The answer is not a straight boy playing football.

I hoped that YR would have shown in more concrete way that Wille understood the positive impact his queerness brings to people. We got a moment like that with Simon on the First of May when he was asked to take a picture. He got to feel like a role model. Wille could have had a similar encounter at his birthday or even at Hillerska. I feel like the show very carefully avoided to give Wille any good experiences related to the monarchy.

Is there homophobia at Hillerska?

There is a disconnect in how much hate we see Simon get, how Wille is not allowed to support queer rights versus how casual and obvious being queer is to Hillerska students. We saw girls at Hillerska openly kissing next to August in season two. Nobody batted an eye. The students of Hillerska knew it was Wille in the video and there was gossip but no negative reactions.

Young Royals seemingly treats queerness as a neutral or positive thing—even the biggest bully Vincent is not a homophobe and supports Nils when he comes out. Simon's parents are cool with their son being gay. Wille gets personally no backlash after his speech (or at least we don't see him be affected by it as Simon is).

Season three paints a very gloomy picture in contrast. 1. Simon gets mostly negative comments online. These comments hit to where it hurts, into the intersection of Simon's identities (latino lover) and his aspirations with music (chacing clout). 2. Queen Kristina falls sick straight after her son comes out. 3. Erik took part in homophobic hazings that were a tradition at Hillerska.

We don't get to see instances of this homophobia in the school or in the interactions between students except in s2e4 in 'Wille to the table' scene when the Forest Ridge boys celebrate Wille kissing Felice (and conforming to the heteronormativity). It tells us that being straight is the preferred option.

Young Royals claims that homophobia is in the walls, it lives in traditions and institutions. I partly agree. Homophobia needs also people to survive and everyone at Hillerska was shocked and appalled by the hazings. That made it kinda feel like YR put homophobia on-call for plot reasons.

Where is my big scandal about homophobic monarchy?

The journalist in Sweden might have had a keen interest about the disappearance of their Queen from active duties especially when it coincided with Wilhelm's historical coming out speech. Any accusation about the Queen's homophobia would have been devastating for the Monarchy in a country where support for same sex marriages is over ninety percent. (Go Sweden!)

Media would also have a field day about the hazings and their connection to Erik. It's very recent history. The media would wonder if Erik was a victim and/or the perpetrator. No way there would be radio silence. The burning question would be if the freshly out-of-the-closet Crown Prince suffered from homophobic hazing as well.

In season one, Wilhelm had to give a statement about a video he denied being in. In season three Wille has just come out and it turns out that his school has messed up homophobic traditions, the Queen is unable to perform her duties and it's confirmed that somebody filmed the Crown Prince with another boy and uploaded the video. There is nothing 👀

Queer up!

Wille's character is not only queer for loving Simon but queer in the broader (queer theory) meaning of questioning the prevailing conditions by bringing in new ideas, like in season one: 'What if I just want to be with him and not say anything?'

Wille never had the tools to question his position morally or academicly. At the same time he always knew what he wanted at the emotional level. Simon helped Wille with these questions. They had talks about the monarchy and Wille said he was learning from Simon.

Simon was the catalyst for Wille to find his voice and to figure out what he wants his life to look like. More than that, Simon's character allowed the viewers to look into the life of the rich and powerful through queer theory's lens: questioning, revealing, challenging status quo.

Whatever direction their ways ago after the ending, Wille's and Simon's love will continue to make a difference.

#young royals #young royals analysis #queer rep in young royals

[scatteredpiecesofme]

i love love love the happy ending wilmon got in canon, but I'm such a glutton, or slut, or slutton, for the idea that their graduation day goodbye really was goodbye, for years, and wille tries a while longer but the role continues to break him, and maybe five or ten or fifteen years later he reaches a breaking point and leaves the monarchy, and a month or two later he turns up at simon's apartment unannounced, and they share tea in simon's tiny, bright kitchen, and when wille reluctantly drags himself to leave, he stops at the front door and turns to ask his high school sweetheart - still the love of his life - "are you sure you're over me?"

#given how the first 5.5 episodes played out #this finale would have made much more sense #(but I'm happy that we got Wilmon endgame of course!)

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Hang on, where was this scene actually shot?

I had always assumed that the scene in S1E4 where August films Wilhelm and Simon was shot at Kaggeholm, but this is actually not the case. Here's what that looks like, and the windows and gutters don't match what Kaggeholm looks like.

Earlier in the episode, we get a scene where Alexander knocks on Wilhelm's window, and he jumps out. It's shot at the same place.

So, if it's not Kaggeholm, where the hell is it? It's a large old building, but pretty nondescript. However, in episode 6 the Queen arrives at Hillerska, and I never thought about this, but this is also not shot at Kaggeholm. Well, the motorcade is for some reason, but not her arrival.

A day or two later the Queen comes to pick up Wilhelm to go to the palace for his statement, and Simon awkwardly greets her. This is the best shot we have of the location.

It looks like the August filming scene was shot at the backside of this building, because everything matches, the windows, the gutters, the colour, the corner stones, everything.

But where the hell is it?

It's a large building with a gatehouse, and it looks pretty old, so it's some kind of manor house. It looks like there's a small visitor's parking up front, so it's probably not a large private home. It's not possible to read the plaque on the front, no matter how much I told my computer to magnify and enhance.

I don't recognize the place, I've spent a couple of hours scouring google maps and the internet for possible locations, but it's not any of the larger manor houses in the Stockholm area. However, there's a bazillion smaller houses like this that you can typically rent for events and shit, so I'm overwhelmed.

I've tried reverse image searching, but the only thing I got was a car forum dedicated to identifying cars in TV shows. (It's a Polestar 2, btw...)

So where the hell is this?

At this point you pretty much have to be Swedish and know of this place to know where it is. Or be an expert geoguessr. Does anyone know Rainbolt?

#young royals #young royals locations

[scatteredpiecesofme]

i hope you have a nice summer

I rewatched ep 6 recently and got caught on Wille and Simon’s final conversation at Hillerska. I’d heard some mention of people thinking Wille was being petty - I don’t think that’s true at all and is disingenuous to all the growth he’s undergone since s1. There’s a deep mutual understanding and love in that final conversation at Hillerska, which is underlined by the way the scene parallels, and then diverges from, the final s1 scene.

Their conversations start both times with Wille commenting on how much he loved Simon’s singing. In both instances Wille is making sure Simon knows for a final time that Wille sees him, values him and his talents, and relishes in the gift of vulnerability Simon gives through his music

side note this is such a lovely shot of them with the summer and the water and the words of Wille’s love between them. Water has represented their feelings, their love for each other, and now also their rebirth into maturity, so this shot reminds us of this growth and that this love between them is still very much present. As confirmed by Simon: he never gave up on them. But he did give up on the monarchy, and the emphasised height difference (which we don’t get much in s3 despite the very obvious differences in Omar and Edvin’s height) shows us that as things stand, as long as Wille remains an active part of the royal family, there will always be an insurmountable imbalance between them.

Wille thinks it’s the last time he’s ever going to get to see or speak to the love of his life, so he needs to communicate to him just how much he loves him and always will. But he’s now understood how much pain Simon’s been in as well (and the role he’s played in that), and he knows he can’t say that outright without inflicting even more on the both of them. He wants to leave them both with something beautiful to commit to memory, so draws on their history to do so

and Simon immediately, inherently understands what Wille is doing (look at his little smile). It’s not selfish of Wille, it’s not petty; he’s being considerate of Simon’s feelings and boundaries whilst still communicating how he feels (despite probably everything in him screaming at him to tell Simon he loves him and pull him into a kiss) and it just shows the level of emotional growth he’s undergone since s1

Up to here this completely parallels the s1 scene down to the blocking, except Wille and Simon have switched scripts. But the divergence from the paralleling at the end highlights that they understand what this shared language actually means. I just know they’ve had a whispered conversation late at night at some point (either teasing or emotional, I can’t decide) where Simon admits when he said ‘I hope you have a nice Christmas’, he meant ‘I love you too’, but felt he couldn’t say it at the time. And Wille just replies ‘I know, Simon, I could feel it’

Because here, Simon knows Wille just told him he loved him, because that’s what those words mean to them. And he can’t let the moment go by, he can’t leave, without telling Wille that he loves him too. So that’s what he does. It still hurts but he just has to do it. And now he can be the one to turn and leave (vs Wille leaving in s1), turning his back on the institutions of both Hillerska and the monarchy. But leaving in the knowledge that they both have secure in their hearts the shared love between them, that it wasn’t in vain

anyway pretty sweet that they actually get to have a nice summer together now isn’t it?

#young royals #yr s3 #wilmon

[scatteredpiecesofme]

REBLOG if you are old enough to remember what a VCR is.

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Another thing is, I never read YR as a political/cultural commentary piece because I believe it was way subtler in the first two seasons. Maybe it was easier for me not to read into it since I watched the show without any major context in the beginning.

What I saw were just the characters in this story, behaving pretty believably in their environment, their actions logical for their context, and conflicts coming just from circumstances.

I never read Wille any other way than just a teenager – I saw people using very strong words about him, from ‘helpless damaged baby’ to ‘spoiled and selfish brat.’ Since the story was immersive enough for me to see him like a real person, I never liked the simplifications of his character. Maybe I come from very specific experiences, but partying and acting up teenagers is nothing new to me. Being dramatic, neither. Those behaviors are not exclusive to rich/privileged kids. I mostly saw him as just a little troubled, trying to orient himself in the situation he found himself in.

But there comes Simon. Now I get that people accept he was just a plot device the reason for Wille to throw away the crown, but I firmly believe he was not written that way in the beginning. Simon felt as real as Wille. He had his own huge context, his troubles and characteristics – I always saw him as a real person as well. Also, I never saw him as a victim either. Again, that’s probably both because the show was written subtly enough and because I don’t have a simplistic worldview.

Social injustice is naturally a very close matter to my heart. I keep myself hopeful about the world, despite seeing some devastating shit in my life, because I believe in change. I believe in people working together, I believe in communities and parties willing to compromise for a cause.

I can’t comment much about the monarchy aspect of it, but what I gathered is that people don’t like the very concept of it. The right to be born in the right family and so on…

Well, the realist in me knows that people will always be born into something. It doesn’t matter that it’s not written in the law – countries without monarchies have some biggest social inequalities in the world. Russia is a great example. But the USA doesn’t fall far back behind either. Nowadays the inequalities come simply from being born into money. And it’s always going to be a thing. All around the world. I wish people understood that.

Inequalities aren’t diminished by revolutions, I don’t think (pretty sure some historians would agree with me although they are very welcome to correct me) They can be reduced however by the whole community working together. By stopping multiplying divisions and starting to talk. By listening to understand and not just to argue against.

I can’t help being angry at the message from YR because Sweden is one of the most progressive and developed countries in the world. Their social system is admired around the world, I think. Even their education system is the model others can only aspire to. I’m not saying they don’t have problems, but you know, in the bigger context…

Maybe it takes someone raised in a post-communist country to see those things that way.  I just know that, deep down in my soul, destroying something is rarely the way. Building on that thing, adding to it, changing it to include – that’s how things are done to improve.

True both for countries and for worldviews.

Now, you started to read it because you thought I was talking about the show, and by the end of it you realized you were just reading my socialistic manifesto? Good. That’s how I felt watching Young Royals. But since the big media creators can do it on mainstream platforms, I figured a simple person could do it on their weird blog too.

#I don't agree with everything #but there are some interesting points here #young royals #yr s3

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Sometimes fiction doesn’t have a moral to the story. Sometimes fiction points at something and goes “Ever thought about THAT???” And you look at what it’s pointing at for a bit.

[scatteredpiecesofme]

in ep 6 ramirez is reading a poem and i can't believe i didn't look it up until now.

it's a karin boye poem from her most famous collection för trädets skull (for the tree's sake). because of course it is.

i looked up the whole poem because they only read a portion of it in the episode, so here it is in swedish followed by an english translation from david mcduff:

evighet

en gång var vår sommar en evighet lång. vi strövade i soldagar utan slut en gång. vi sjönk i gröna doftande djup utan grund och kände ingen ängslan för kvällningens stund.

vart gick sen vår evighet? hur glömde vi bort dess heliga hemlighet? vår dag blev för kort. vi strävar i kramp, vi formar i strid ett verk, som skall bli evigt - och dess väsen är tid.

men än faller tidlösa stänk i vår famn en stund då vi är borta från mål och namn, då solen faller tyst över ensliga strån och all vår strävan syns oss som en lek och ett lån.

då anar vi det villkor vi en gång fick: att brinna i det levandes ögonblick, och glömmer det timliga, som varar och består för den skapande sekunden, som mått aldrig når.

eternity

an eternity long our summer was then. we roamed in sunny days that had no end. we sank in fragrant green depths without floor and felt no fear of eventide's hour.

where did our eternity go? how did we forget its holy secret? our day became too short. in strife we form, in spasm we rhyme a work that shall be eternal - and its essence is time.

but still timeless drops fall into our arms at a time when we're absent from goals and names, when the sun falls silent over straws there alone, and all our striving seems to us like a game and a loan.

then we sense that condition we once received: to burn in the moment that living bequeathed, and forget the temporal that lasts and endures, for creation's second, that no gauge ever nears.

ramirez reads the second stanza and sara reads the first few lines of the third. of course everything referenced in young royals is deeply intentional, and the return of writing from karin boye about impermanence and a love lost too soon is perfect for the moment.

first, it foreshadows what is about to happen. the reading of the poem is halted by the announcement that hillerska has been closed on the line en stund då vi är borta, at a time when we're absent. hillerska is a work of perpetuation through cruelty and violence, and here it experiences its interruption through disappearance. but i don't see hillerska as the effort of eternity through strife as what is most being mourned in this scene. that of course is simon and wilhelm.

there's something profound about the lines vi strävar i kramp, vi formar i strid, in strife we form, in spasm we rhyme, being read to wilhelm after he and simon have seemingly been defeated by their circumstance. he and simon's bond was formed in the adversity of wilhelm navigating the monarchy, but in that space they carved out a small eternity to share as themselves. even if they are stalled, to keep fighting in the face of this adversity is ett verk som skall bli evigt, a work that shall be eternal. they will find a way through their strife and spasm toward their eternity soon.

#after I discovered the existence of Karin Boye in S2 #I read ALL her poems #and loved them #and I loved that they used her poetry in S3 #it worked very well on both the literal and the meta level #and it offered a nice touch of continuity with s2 #young royals #yr s3 #karin boye

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Asking for a friend...

#hahaha you're so real for this #none of my usernames across all platforms contains a yr reference #but I DID insert it in the middle of a couple of passwords #so yes guilty as charged lol #young royals #yr polls

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Every now and then I think about what happens after ep6, or what parallels didn’t get completed this season, and I think "oh it’s alright, I just can’t wait to see how they’ll do it next season" except there won’t be a next season which I forget all the time, and it’s quite upsetting

#same #can we have an epilogue #<<prev tag #young royals

[scatteredpiecesofme]

Sunday snippet: unnamed S3 Walty fic

I've never done Sunday snippets before, but I'm quite excited about the Walty fic that I've been working on lately. It will be a short S3-compliant multichap set around their appearances in canon, and I hope to get the first chapter finished and posted relatively soon.

So, here's a silly little snippet from Chapter 1 (Talludden) that doesn't give away anything about the plot but does give you an idea of their dynamic before something disrupts it and kicks off the story.

--

With the decoy finished, Walter lay back down, now in the middle spot. Henry happily got into his own sleeping bag as well – only to realise he was still wearing the jacket that would get way too hot with two or potentially three people’s heat inside the tent. He couldn’t be bothered to sit back up anymore, so he decided to remove it lying down. To his frustration and his best friend’s amusement, that took a lot more grunting and wriggling than anticipated.

“What are you even doing?” Walter laughed on the other side of the thick fleece that currently filled Henry’s field of vision and tied his arms. “Why don’t you just sit up?”

“Because this – ugh, for fuck’s sake – this is less effort.”

“Sure looks that way.”

Henry finally managed to yank himself free with a triumphant yelp. Walter had the nerve to laugh again, for which Henry retaliated by flailing the jacket in his face. The urge to drop it on his head when he parried with his arm was damn near irresistible – but the escalation would only sidetrack them further, and Henry was already bursting to tell the story. He simply tossed the jacket in the corner, next to the bundle of yellow fairy lights that they had not bothered to put up.

“Okay, so,” Henry said, settling on his side with one hand under his pillow. “Where were we?”

“You were about to tell me you killed Alexander and dumped him in the lake.”

Well, maybe the story could wait just a moment longer. Walter’s arch smile was virtually begging for a jokey response, and Henry was not about to leave him hanging.

#young royals #young royals fanfic #walty #sunday snippet