#Hillerska choir

[young-royals-confessions]

Confessing this anonymously for understandable reasons. First time I watched YR, I couldn’t understand how Simon was credible as the star of the school choir. Omar Rudberg has a good voice, but it’s very obviously a “pop music” voice. Choral music, at least at a high level, is a totally different type of vocal training.

It’s something I can hand wave away, upon rewatching. Because Simon is supposed to be a diamond in the rough who had no formal vocal training prior to starting at Hillerska a little over a month previously. So he would have the raw talent, but not the trained “choral/classical” sound.

But the first time watching the show, every solo of Simon’s made me think “This guy isn’t credible.” I just never admitted it because i know a lot of my fellow fans adore Omar’s music and his voice.

[raincitygirl76]

I just realized something. Hillerska must provide a fair bit of employment in Bjarstad. That bus stop can’t only be there for non-boarding students. There would be administrative staff, cooks, cleaners, groundskeepers, maintenance people. Plus occasional extra labour (from local catering companies, presumably) whenever Hillerska is having a special event like Parents Day or the jubilee.

And big regular orders to Bjarstad supermarkets, not to mention local tradespeople being called in whenever there’s a specialist problem the regular maintenance staff can’t fix. They’re old buildings. There would inevitably be plumbers, electricians, carpenters needed from time to time.

Adults Simon and Sara run into on campus would also be adults they’d run into in town. Which must have gotten seriously awkward for Simon after August leaked that fucking sex tape.

Also, while the housemasters and housemistresses would obviously have to live on campus, I doubt Hillerska would have room to house every teacher. Particularly the ones who have families of their own. And even if there was room, many teachers might prefer to have separation between work and the rest of their life. So they would live in Bjarstad.

Presumably teachers with families could send their own kids to Hillerska as non-boarders for free. That might even be a perk of teaching there. I wonder if the non-boarding kids of Hillerska teachers are treated with as much contempt as Simon and Sara.

Please note, I have discovered from helpful Swedish watchers of the show that none of the Hillerska students pay tuition to attend. It is illegal in Sweden to charge for schooling. Private boarding schools gets around this law by charging exorbitant amounts of money to the parents of boarders, theoretically for their room and board only. In practice, for the experience of upper class solidarity and an exclusive education. So non-boarders like Simon and Sara are seen as freeloaders by many of the boarders.

Please note, though, that Hillerska would receive revenue from the state for educating each and every student. I highly doubt those payments would cover all the fancy extras Hillerska offers. But Linda Eriksson is a taxpayer, and her taxes are helping to cover the expense of educating her non-boarding kids.

Also, private Swedish boarding schools can pick and choose which non-boarding applicants they will accept, unlike public schools which have to educate everyone. So I guess they’d pick the cream of the crop of Bjarstad locals, kids who stand out in some way, and will enhance the school’s standing.

Simon presumably for his musical talent, Sara probably for her grades. Or maybe on compassionate grounds, since she got bullied so unmercifully for years at the local public school. Hillerska could pat itself on the back for rescuing the poor girl from the scourge that is public education.

The above is my understanding from what I have picked up on Tumblr from Swedes. It’s entirely possible I didn’t get it all right. I’m just a Canadian, after all! If I misunderstood anything, please let me know and I’ll edit.

[raincitygirl76]

Holy shit, read this!!!!!

Okay but the scene where Wille sees Simon for the first time is cinematic excellence and in this essay I will discuss why

My cousin pointed this out to me that when Wilhelm arrives at the church, all our attention is taken up by the arrival of Felice, as she and Wilhelm greet each other.

We barely notice Simon entering the scene as it is Wilhelm's POV, and he doesn't notice Simon, so neither do we. Plus, they purposely placed him behing Felice so he never stands out.

Simon starts singing but he isn't giving his best. Wilhelm's attention is everywhere but not on Simon. In this scene, Simon is continuously going in and out of the camera's focus, sometimes even blurred. The lightening doesn't help either, Simon is clearly not the main subject.

But when the bloke interrupts the choir, that's when Simon starts giving his best and sings out loud in defiance. And that's when magic happens.

Wilhelm notices him properly for the very first time- he's the main subject of the camera and the lightening, he's the main lead now. Wilhelm actually ✨SEES✨ him, and so do we.

And for him Simon is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen at that moment, because just look at this- the angle, the light, his smile- everything just makes him look ethereal.

At that moment, he's the most beautiful thing we've seen too, all because Wille finds him to be. Combined with Omar's otherworldly singing, it's just *chef's kiss*

The cinematography of that whole montage is out of the world, it's so well thought out.

Stuck in my brain, it kept me sane ~

[young-royals-confessions]

How do I know Omar was sick in Remember scene? I'm a dinosaur in the fandom, Omar's hardcore (but quiet) fan and have a good memory.

Omar had an interview on youtube for brazilian channel Febre Teen back in 2021 (aired in 2022) where he answered some questions. Among other things he speaks a bit about his favourite song from S1, his experience with the choir and also mentions being sick while recording Remember.

Here's the interview, it's short and in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgKnZTVABk

[young-royals-confessions]

I just started YR (once again). And was just wondering. Is this the first time the choir was preforming?

Because, Simon was first singing very still. He didn't know how loud he could sing in the Chapelle. (After Vincent being annoying, he gets loud)

Schoolyear just started for a month or so, right? Simon says to August he has been there a bit longer then a month. So school starts, maybe tryouts, practice...

They start at Hillerska when they are 16 not when they are 12 or 13 or so.

So, is it the first time the choir performs and it is immediately for the crown prince and prince Wilhelm. Everybody would be nervous for their first performance, right? (Even if you don't like the monarchy)

And olso the rest of the school reacts like they listened for the first time.

[learnthebreakdown]

The scene where the choir starts singing Simon's song instead of the og Hillerska song makes me so emotional. A lot of the show's classism/racism/prejudice is primarily shown through Simon's treatment, which I think as a fandom we often forget because it's become so normalized throughout the show. But think about it y'all- from day one Simon is bullied EVERYDAY day at his school for his socioeconomic class and values. That is EXHAUSTING, that slowly eats away at a person, and the fact that he manages to keep his sense of self throughout that at age 16 is impressive. And in season 3 that got compounded with the vulgar homophobic, racist, and classist hate comments he got from the public. He is constantly the one challenging that school's insane archaic and prejudiced values, despite the bullying. That school has NOT been kind to him, but when they sing the song that he was initially not allowed to sing, he sees that something he did at that school mattered. It did influence people, his bravery did change things. Simon Eriksson you will ALWAYS be famous.

[raincitygirl76]

He was SO happy about being commissioned to write the song in 2.01, and then in 2.05 Jan Olof took it away from him. And not for musical reasons.

SIMON ERIKSSON  Young Royals | 2.01

[etvie]

Omar trying to walk like a nerdy choir kid in episode 1.

Omar saying fuck it, I’m a motherfucking star and so is Simon. Proceeds to walk through hillerska like a supermodel.

[othervee]

Finale thoughts!

Interesting to find out that Hillerska has had multiple warnings over several years and still didn't pull their heads in. Clearly they thought they were invincible.

Vincent and Nils stepping up to the plate when they see August's genuine distress, the way Vincent is stroking his arm. There's real friendship and love to be found, but you only see it when you're honest. Similarly, their reactions when they find out that August is backup. August receiving the posioned chalice. What else can he do now, though? He's lost Arnas, or at least part of it. He has to do the military service; he's in the position Wille has been in.

Haha, the housemaster having a drink with the boys. What else is he going to do?

Loved the scene with Felice dragging Wille to the party. Her facial expressions, she's so cute. Wille negotiating with Malin shows a level of maturity, but the male bodyguard is SO not impressed as he follows them to the palace, LOL.

LOVE that Simon brought Rosh and Ayub to the white party. And Ayub reassuring Rosh, after Stella shows herself for who she is. She's chosen the Hillerska way, all the way.

The scene between Wille and August in the clubroom. He didn't know it, but that was the closure he needed. THat they both needed. They've made peace, they can even develop a familial relationship again into the future, but right now this is as close to peace as they can have at this stage.

Nils, you giant dork. And also... They're shocked he didn't say anything earlier,  but would things have been different if he had?

No Royal house, no Prince, no socialist, no drama. No before. No later. Only now. As the previous song said, back to basics. Back to the pure connection they have with each other.

The lake scene. So beautiful.

Simon's Song! Did Felice initiate that, do we think? A few of the choir were smiling at Simon. Nice to see they all (or most of them) wanted that and not the musty old version.

Oh, Kristina, that really is too little too late, but I'm glad you came through in the end.

The little token the Queen and Duke put around August's neck is a frog prince. The symbolism would be a sledgehammer if the direction or script drew attention to that, but they don't.

In the car, Wille beginning to feel the panic attack happening, the constriction of the collar around his neck, and realising what that means. This is an unhealthy system and if he stays in it, this will be his life. The constriction, the desperation, literally struggling to breathe. Echoing Simon's words to him, "I've seen how it makes you feel". Being calm because he's no longer coming from a place of despair, a place where he has no control. And Kristina knows it. It was important for Wille to tell his parents he loves them. He's coming to terms and making peace with everyone.

That closing scene, oh my god. The montage was cheesy as fuck and I am here for it. The dialogue and the execution were not cheesy. They established the important things. Wille is doing this for his sake, not for Simon's. For the first time in his life he is making an informed, calm, active choice.

Simon's FACE. OMG. The shock, barely daring to believe it, but knowing when Wille says 'For my own sake' that this is it. It's real. And then! The tears, the gasping, the incredulous joy! Omar is a natural who stepped it up even more this season, and I do hope he continues to take on acting roles because he is amazing.

Wille's FACE. The joy but more importantly the PEACE.  His entire being, his posture, his aura changes and he radiates rightness. Edvin is incredible.

Also? They both look so, SO beautiful in this episode. This closing sequence, but really the entire episode.

Heading off into the sun, in white, whooping and cheering, Felice with her legs up on the dashboard, free.

And now I want LOADS of future fic about The Adventures of Wille, Simon, Sara och Felice. Tack, Lisa, for leaving it so open for us to do that!

[raincitygirl76]

In 1.05, Simon gestures at Wilhelm to come here as they’re walking to class. But then August calls Wilhelm over, and he leaves Simon alone. Can’t let on in public how much he wants to spend time with Simon. And that’s even before they’ve been outed. Wille is in full closet mode.

In 2.06, Simon makes that same gesture, this time in a much more loaded situation with tons more witnesses. The Queen and the Prince Consort have just walked past the choir on their way to the jubilee, and Wilhelm is on a tight schedule. Also, Simon’s gesturing isn’t particularly subtle. Nonetheless, Wille demands Jan-Olof stop everything for a few minutes so he can talk to Simon in private. Even though there is literally a chair under the marquee waiting for Wille, and the queen is probably wondering why her son hasn’t emerged yet.

Gotta love character growth. Season 1 Wilhelm was a lot more worried about keeping up appearances and being discreet. Season 2 Wilhelm will absolutely follow Simon to the nearest semi-private space for a chat, no matter how many people it inconveniences and no matter how it messes up the jubilee schedule. And no matter whether it causes people to remember about the sex tape Wille claimed he wasn’t in.

Growth.

He is so 🥺🤏😩🫶 with his little kom

[themarsbar]

Getting emotional about Wille seeing Simon sing for the first time.

How many times are Wille’s feelings and agency dismissed just in the first ten minutes? A decision was made to move him to Hillerska, he was completely excluded from the discussion, all his protests are promptly ignored, his anxiety about the situation is brushed off with a literal slap and he’s forced to speak to the nation and pretend that he’s okay with all of that. He doesn’t go down without a fight but his attempts are feeble. He’s had an entire system against him all his life and that system is also his family.

And then he starts at this school where he has no reason not to expect everyone to be complicit with that system (why should he?), and here comes this (cute) choir boy who’s so beautifully defiant, so unafraid to literally raise his voice to make himself be heard and respected. It’s all Wille has been trying to do and this boy does it with such grace and with such power, and so naturally I bet that for a moment it made Wille feel like he could do anything.

Of course he’s immediately smitten here, of course

[young-royals-confessions]

I agree with the anon about Simon and the choir. In season two with Simon’s song he sound amazing and more in harmony with the choir and therefore he sounded a lot better in that context. But in season one it wasn’t harmony, Simon did his thing and the choir did their thing and the thing with singing in a choir is that you’re not suppose to stand out, good or bad because the point of singing in a choir is that you harmonize with other singers. Especially during ”Gläns över sjö och strand” it was just weird tbh. Not bad singing but just as s singer in the choir you would probably hate Simon and wonder why he got all the solos when his singing style differed from the rest so much and it was super obvious and stood out. Singing in a choir is not realistically why he got in to the school and there’s no way he would study choir singing later on unless he got a lot better. In Simon’s song he nailed it though, that is what harmony between soloist and choir is supposed to sound like. The choir world is brutal and I guess if you know you know.

.

[raincitygirl76]

LOL, @zee-has-commitment-issues is definitely not wrong!!!!

Absolutely wild that Wilhelm and Simon still thought they were a secret even though they kept sneaking off and openly staring at each other longingly and loudly arguing in open common areas and storming out of rooms when they got jealous and being petty in PE by throwing dodgeballs at heads and refusing to pass each other the ball and asking Jan Olof for a second so they could share a prolonged hug in a visible hallway.

Truly remarkable how their teenage brains work.

[wings-of-a-storm]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how far Wille and Simon have come during these two seasons of Young Royals. It makes you want to re-watch all those little moments that began it all between them, right? Especially since Wille had to work so hard to break through Simon’s guard in the battleground of their school and earn his trust that he wasn’t just another one of the a-holes about to humiliate him at any second.

One of my most treasured, subtle moments that I always look forward to seeing in S1 is when you see the process of Wille actually becoming a sanctuary for Simon at school despite the walls Simon built around himself.

That feeling is shown so cleverly and heartwarmingly in the scene where Wille joins the rowing ream for their early morning fitness sessions (albeit late XD) and Simon’s whole demeanour visibly brightens the moment he sees Wille has joined them. IT GETS ME EMOSH EVERY TIME.

Before Wille joins them, we get to watch with him out his window at the team gathering, and it is there that we witness the perfect snapshot of the utter hell Simon goes through every day at that school. You see all the boys collectively ignoring Simon and ostracising him (from first years to seniors). And what rankles is that you can see it isn’t from Simon’s lack of trying -- he actively tries to engage with them and join the circle of bodies but they treat him like he is invisible.

It would be so humiliating and so deeply lonely to be put in that situation time and time again -- and this is just one morning of many! At the end of this new humiliation, you can see the resigned look on Simon’s face as he has to once again choke it all down and bring his armour out to emotionally survive another day of his school peers signalling to him that he is worthless -- not worth saying hello to, not worth talking to, not worth even acknowledging.

And here is the awful truth -- that shit is traumatising, no matter how strong you think you are being in the face of it! Simon is an incredibly strong, grounded, independent boy with a good support network at home, but he has to endure this bullying every day alone amongst the boys. He may be able to scoff at their behaviour in his head because he is far more emotionally intelligent, but the fact of the matter is that when you have to endure constant slights every day like that, it can absolutely erode your self-confidence and slowly condition your subconscious into reconsidering that maybe there is something fundamentally unlikable about you after all. Repetition is a powerful force.

Simon has only been in that environment at Hillerska for a month or two, but it would still be affecting him on some level because how could it not? The only real safe space for him at school is with his sister (and probably choir and the music room).

Until he meets Wille.

And this is why I love this scene so much! Because you truly get to witness how much Wille’s presence  starts to give Simon peace even at this early stage of their friendship. Because there Simon is, jogging in a group that doesn’t want him there, exerting mental energy into keeping his armour up so he doesn’t have to feel how shit it makes him feel, when out of nowhere he hears a cheerful “Hi!” from beside him and it is Wille.

The way Simon’s whole face lights up when he realises he is no longer alone in the group because Wille is there (insert all the crush feelings), gets me evvvvvvvery time. Simon’s face is actual sunshine!

(^ Apologies to Prince Wilhelm for these unflattering screenshots of him, but the smile he brings out of Simon is the real flattering thing here, sir!)

You can totally understand why Simon’s face turns into sunshine at the sight and sound of Wille being there though -- Wille is the first person that morning to acknowledge his existence, and above that, sound genuinely happy for the chance to hang out with him during training. Talk about suddenly feeling like a human being again! And feeling much safer in the presence of a known ally. (And then of course add in that Simon is already crushing on Wille by this point). No wonder Simon can’t stop smiling.

Then of course, the training continues on and we get to see all of Simon’s surreptitious stares at Wille who no doubt looks so cute to him in Struggletown (coz even princes can’t do planking exercises without sweating and groaning like a muppet). You can see how much Simon is enjoying just being around Wille during training. He looks like he is actually having fun at school for one of the very rare occasions outside of choir practice. And since Wille is right there opposite him in the grind, you can tell that Wille has spent every chance he had to claim his space beside Simon, and gosh that must feel so awesome for Simon considering he started the morning with no one acknowledging his existence or wanting him there.

We are witnessing such pure friendship here, and it hurts from how good it feeeeeeels.

Having this new friendship/sanctuary at school for the times when he is away from his sister must have made getting off the bus at school so much more bearable for Simon, you know? It’s no wonder Simon was crushing on Wille so hard by episode two. And I reallllllly, really love that about their dynamic -- how from the beginning they found a bit of peace in each other in a school that they struggle emotionally to be at. And it just keeps on growing from there. T_T <3

Okay, my emotions have been satisfactorily spilled. Thank you for the indulgence. XD

[probablyjustanotheryrblog]

not me realizing wille has a photo of simon singing in the choir performance hillerska put on to start the year in s1.

sir when did you take that picture-

[raincitygirl76]

Kristina is an intelligent woman. She knows damn well Simon is in the choir, and that’s exactly why she looked straight ahead the entire time she was walking past all the choristers. She did not want to catch his eye. She especially did not want to be SEEN to catch his eye, in case any other choristers gossiped about it.

Kristina must realize that practically everyone at Hillerska knows damn well the denial she coerced her son into making in December was a lie. They closed ranks around the royal family anyway, because they’re good upper class kids who know the crown prince can never ever be queer. But she still doesn’t want to stir up new rumours. Hopefully they’d stay at Hillerska, but with rumours, there always the risk of them escaping containment.

Notice also that her obedient consort Ludvig, while not looking straight ahead quite as rigidly as his wife, is following her lead. He’s not acknowledging any choristers either.

In 2.6. when they walk into the hallway with the choir waiting for them, right before the ceremony, do we think Kristina ignored Simon on purpose or did she genuinely not remember who he was/what he looked like when she walked past him I wonder