#karin boye crisis

[woodvalefairy]

Hi tumblr, does anyone have the pdf of the English translation of Crisis by Karin Boye? I've been searching for a good while but can't find it 😕

[willescrisis]

Wille's Crisis : an essay about Kris (1934) and Young Royals (2021)

While watching Young Royals’ third season, I couldn’t get Karin Boye’s novel Kris out of my head.  As a fan of Young Royals that feels very chill and very normal about it, I have hence written a five page brain-dump on how Malin Forst and Wilhelm’s characters and worlds are intertwined.  (Small disclamers : I’m quoting Amanda Doxtater’s 2020 english translation of the novel and I’m french-canadian, so english is my second language.)

Who is Karin Boye ? 

Karin Boye (1900-1940) was a leading figure in Swedish modernist literature and poetry. In 1920, at the age of 20, she studied one year in Stockholm to become a primary school teacher and after graduation, continued teaching, writing, militant engagement and several years of study in related fields. Among all of her works, the most explicitly autobiographical is her autofictive novel Kris (1934).  This powerful novel explores the homosexuality and crisis of religious faith of a young woman named Malin Forst.

Malin Forst & Wilhelm

During her studies in teaching, Karin’s 20-years-old alter-ego Malin goes through an existential crisis. She feels completely paralyzed by her guilt due to her selfish inaction in the face of universal suffering, her lack of trust in institutions (educational, medical, etc.) and, worst of all, her doubts about her relationship with God. Kris also deals with Malin’s relationship to her own sexuality with the meeting of a classmate, Siv, to whom she will become passionately obsessed without ever talking to her.

We meet 16-years-old Wilhelm as a first year student at Hillerska. His failures as a royal figure and his complicated relationships to his loved ones make him feel powerless and guilty. He is thrown off balance by his doubts of the monarchic system, but most importantly, by his doubts of his life’s role model, Erik. Young Royals also deals with Wilhelm’s relationship to his own sexuality with the meeting of a classmate, Simon… Are we seeing the parallels here ?

While Malin’s torments lead her to shut down, Wilhelm screams. But both feel paralysed and don’t know how to exist out of the system they grew up in. And it’s the meeting of a same-sex student that leads them to a freer path.

« I want to see Siv. I want to be where Siv is. » 

Previously, Malin considered the fusion of the will of the human with the will of God to be the most important of aspirations. Without this reference point, she has no will nor desire… until she meets another student, Siv. Her simple presence rekindles for the first time in the novel a desire, burning and forbidden: “I want to see Siv. I want to be where Siv is.” … And here is how this whole essay has come to exist. While watching season three, I joked endearingly with my friends about the way that Wille’s only hobby is to be with Simon, but I felt sad for him. Until I understood he’s on the first part of his self-discovery journey. His first true desire that stems from inside of him and wasn’t imposed by the system is “I want to see Simon. I want to be where Simon is.” 

Interestingly enough, Siv and Simon both become a new manifestation of something that Malin and Wilhelm have lost. We, the reader, meet Malin when she is ‘grieving’ her old relationship to God and deconstructing her understanding of God as a single entity. Amazed by Siv’s ‘perfection’, Malin raises her to a kind of divine position with great powers.  Wilhelm, for his part, feels at home with Simon because of the way he makes Wilhelm’s entire being comes alive, weightless and playful… A feeling of joy, innocence and safety he’s only ever felt with Erik before. 

Anxious and desperate, Malin and Wilhelm are latching to their comfort person, making them their whole word in a way that has to change for them to grow up. After realizing Siv’s feeling for a fellow male classmate, Malin is shaken : “Only now could she see that she had embarken upon the false path of mistaking a person for what is highest and most beautiful.” Not only does this quote mirror Wilhelm letting go of his idealised conception of Erik, it is also mirrorring his realisation that Simon is not a perfectly stable and unbreakable anchor on which he can blindly rely on : “I have to take responsibilities for my own problem. I can’t drag him down with me.”

Don’t give it a name

An important part of Malin’s journey is relinquishing the power she gives to words, especially regarding God and her sexuality.  Throughout the novel, she refuses to name the emotion she feels for Siv. On the day of her meeting with Siv, Malin thinks:   “You, lips, I implore you to clamp so hard upon the unsayable, that not a word slips out to assert its malicious pettiness and obfuscation ! Be still, thoughts, don’t interrupt, for you have no idea what this is ! (...) Don’t give it a name, let it be just as it is, here in my blood and my eyes, life and sap ! The wonder of new creation need not be named.” 

Wilhelm’s complicated relationship to words is shown in the way that he shouts his love for Simon from every rooftop, but does not wish to label his sexual orientation. In season three, he says the word queer for the first time and his voice is seeped with discomfort. He is not claiming this word as part of his identity and rather feels constricted by it, probably in the same way that every other label put on him has made him suffocate.

Furthermore, both Malin and Wilhelm wish to express themselves and experience the world, not through the restrictive lens of language, but through the sensory world. In Kris, after seeing Siv for the first time, Malin’s five senses awaken. A dialogue takes place between the sense of sight and hearing, reminding me of the way that Wilhelm and Simon’s intimacy is developped through the gentle touch of noses, the sounds of breathing, the glow of golden light and fingers lingering slightly above the other’s body… ‘Sight’ says “I’m confused. I no longer know whether I am sight or not. I envelop things and follow them as if I were touch, I hold my breath in quiet anticipation as if I were hearing, I breathe in, like one intoxicated, as if I were smell, and I drink in long, deep, draughts as if I were taste. (...) Could I be standing at threshold of some new creation ?” To which ‘hearing’ responds “ (...) Admit it - isn’t  revelation through the senses at the same time the revelation of what lies beyond the senses, of what creates the senses, of the limitless feelings of eternal love ? (...)” 

Checkmate

Kris’s narration drastically changes points of view in unexpected moments, moving from the pov of human characters to the pov of abstract entities. The two most important are BLACK and WHITE, two sources of cosmic powers playing a chess game whose game board is humanity. 

On the one hand, WHITE represents the norm, also illustrated by threats from nature such as stormy and dangerous waters, cold, humidity and darkness, but also under the traits of the dominant society, whose rules and norms protect human beings while maintaining them in a position of submission and obedience.  WHITE uses the anxious desire of his pawns (humans) as a weapon to subject them to the norm. And at first, Wille is WHITE’s perfect pawn : an anxious mess who becomes more and more obediant as season three progresses and whose ‘protectors’ are also the ones leading to his demise. Little (most likely accidental) nods to that parralel : Wille looses to Alexander while playing the white pieces in season two and interrupts his conversation with Simon to scream “The water is cold today !” at his guards on their first date.

One the other hand, BLACK is a chaotic power of life associated with desire, burning fire and passion destabilizing the established order. In the context of Kris, the norm is heterosexuality, while fire is the forbidden desire: homosexuality.  This parallel is evident when Malin describes in this way the physical sensations caused by Siv’s sight: “There was no holy, burning voice within her. All that burned within her was a thirst for the forbidden after a single look cast in that direction”  And based on that, I absolutely refuse to believe that Lisa put the hallway scene after a BONFIRE by accident. 

I also don’t think the placement of the chess game during August’s confession to his friends is a coincidence. First, the board is oriented in a way where August sits at the junction between the black and white pieces, showcasing how the character is in a crucial moment in his journey : will he stay in WHITE’s cruches for ever or will he find the strenght to save himself ? And second, August puts a black king on the edge of the table. Not only does it foreshadow that Kronprins Wille is on his way out, it also indicates that it was a rebel and homosexual ‘power’ that guided him in his quest for self-determination, just as it was for Malin Forst. 

I natt gick Gud under or how to make the lake scene destroy me even more

The poem in prose I natt gick Gud under (Last night God succumbed) stands out from the other chapters of the novel Kris, as it recounts the most decisive transformation of the main character Malin Forst.  BLACK places Malin naked and at peace on the shore of a sea where she throws the words she denies. Finally at a safe distance from WHITE’s icy waters, she liberates herself from her paralysis to embrace her true feelings.

Last night God succumbed. 

Perhaps it was just the hollow shell of name that went under.

But that shell of a name drew with it the power of death. I cast it off. 

I see objects as they are, unwitting of the name attributed to them. I cast off their names. 

I stand utterly new, on the shore of a sea. Conscience is no longer mine. I cast it off.

The will to life has made me naked. The will to life has made me see. I shall meet whatever comes with naked, open eyes. 

Lisa describes the lake scene as almost religious. As he’s swimming naked in the lake, Wilhelm is shedding his crown prince shell. Leaving the waters, he is reborn.  When he is standing on the shore of the lake in his white clothes, Lisa says “that is when Wilhelm grows up.”  And for me, he’s ready to meet whatever comes with naked, open eyes. 

Thank you ! Thank you to whoever read this far. Kris is a very complex book that, despite having read twice, I still don’t fully understand, so if you have anything new to add to this reflection, you are welcome to do so !

[fakebutilikeyou]

how the poem on Wilhelm's wall foreshadows all of Young Royals S3 bc my YR brianrot won't go away

the poem is "The Shield-Maiden" by Karin Boye (the same author who wrote Crisis) and while we only see the first stanza, it's a lot longer. Here's the entire english translation.

I do think it’s important that the only part of this poem that we see in the show is the first stanza. It’s Wille’s perspective on what it means to have come out and be in a public relationship with Simon.

He’s romanticizing being with him and the “battle” he’s fighting against the expectations of the crown. He sees his love with Simon as armor that will protect him and arm him against the battle with his role as Crown Prince.

Simon is what makes him feel strong. For example, Wille wasn’t brave enough on his own to admit it was him in the video and it was only after Simon chose to be with him that he was strong enough to do so.

Stanza 2 continues his romanticizing of the reality of being in an openly queer relationship. The “giants that fell” is the ideal prince that he was expected to be. The court and tradition tries to keep them apart but their love was strong and bright to him like lightning.

The darkness is the burden the monarchy is putting on everyone in the royal family. Wille believes that he can escape the threat of this darkness by relying more on Simon (bonus that he joined the choir so they literally did sing together).

In Stanza 3 the POV switches to Simon. Where Wille dreamed of being public as something freeing, Simon had a taste of what the media would be like after the video and couldn’t dream of the same things as him. Instead of being “armored and strong” he dreams of “blood and death”.

Wille can dream about their love being armor against all of these things he’s already dealt with but Simon wasn’t ready for battle. In S3 we watch the court and media tear him down, the mortal wound is Simon having to delete himself (i.e. his instagram, writing songs & singing).

Stanza 4 starts with saying you didn’t even notice that I fell, you didn’t even notice that this battle is killing me. Even as we can all see that Simon is suffering, Wille can’t because he’s too distracted with the battle that he’s still fighting against his role.

“With steady hand the shield you held” Wille is still confident in their love’s ability to project him and he continues using it to help him get through his birthday dinner. He’s only brave enough to say all the things he does to his parents because Simon was by his side. (If you rewatch this scene you can notice Wille continually looking over at Simon for support.)

I see stanza 5 as the conclusion. The fire is Simon’s dream (or nightmare) and the dream of roses is Wille’s romanticizing of all of it. The third line is the death of their relationship/the end of the battle.

Wille has lost the battle but still won in a different way. He stops fighting to try and be the traditional crown prince he's expected to be. In the end this is what allows him to dream of Simon again.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 💀

[raincitygirl76]

It’s also their most important fight, from a character development point of view. In the following episode in Swedish literature class, they’re discussing Karin Boyd’s novel “Crisis”. And Simon expresses a lot of empathy for Malin (the book character who symbolically represents Wilhelm). I doubt he would’ve felt quite so much empathy for someone in that constrained, restricted position prior to the locker room fight in 2.04.

It’s interesting the S2E4 locker room fight is your least favorite fight. It’s one of my favorites. Precisely because of what Simon says. In the heat of the argument I think Simon just meant to say something petty back to Wille, but he ended up saying the truth. A truth he hadn’t consciously realized before. The reason they’re not together isn’t just because of Wille. It’s also because of Simon. He hasn’t tried to understand Wille’s position or be empathetic to his situation. He’s been too caught up in his own (justified) hurt feelings to see Wille’s point of view. It’s also fits perfectly with the scene later in the episode when Simon kisses Wille when he’s dressed as the traditional image of a price. Simon is finally starting to accept his position. I always thought of the locker room fight as the first tiny turning point in them getting back together.

Yes, you are absolutely right about Simon. It's the first time he voices these reservations we know he has had from the very beginning when he called out the royal family in class. He accuses Wille of wanting things to only go his way but Simon is also really strong-minded on how things should be. There was no common ground yet, no willingness to see and understand the other's perspective and find a compromise.

I also love this scene, don't get me wrong. It's so important for the story but it hurts me to watch that Simon needs to lash out at Wille like that. That it has to reach this low point for him to realize he has as much a hand in this as Wille does. That's why it's my least favorite fight.

[justanotherhyperfixation]

I instantly thought of Wilhelm while reading these few lines. And it echoes a lot what i understood of Crisis by Karin Boye, the book they used in season 2.

[missmeganlee]

If you are interested in becoming a fan of Young Royals side effects may include...

falling into the youtube rabbit hole that is Omar Rudberg's music career all the way from his time with FO&O to the present day when he is now your most listened to artist of all time on Spotify

Buying every. single. purple hoodie you can find

attempting to learn Swedish on Duolingo because the only Swedish phrase you know is jag älskar dig

being triggered by the entire month of August

feeling the need to keep your curtains closed 24/7

buying Crisis by Karin Boye because they read it in the show

wanting to try ketchup on your pasta even though you know your italian grandmother would be rolling in her grave if you did that

FINALLY (and most importantly) making online friends through your love of the show that you sometimes talk to more than your in real life friends and wanting to take a trip to Sweden with those online friends that you love so much (because you actually started posting on tumblr instead of just lurking)

[raincitygirl76]

This is the edit in question.

Okay now I also would like a director's commentary, if you'd be willing to do that!

First of all for the book discussion edit you did which is.....INSANITY ...literally one of the best edits ever ever ever

And also maybe "real funny that things go to hell now that I've found it" because I think it's criminally underrated!!

Also, feel free to pick one of those haha and I might take you up on more some time haha

I am gonna do them both but I'll be doing the second one in a standalone post! Starting with this edit!

because this edit has no lyrics I'm gonna do it like the line of dialogue & the scenes played instead :P

And what do you think the dilemma is?- Starting with the actual scene, Simon is asked the question by the teacher, basically showing that the edit is going to be entirely about Simon's interpretation of the book Kris, which is used as a parallel for wilmon! The text is purple for the teacher, but that's also the colour I use to represent wilmon as a couple so its a little nod to that as well :)

That Malin has grown up with strong Christian ideals, that...- Wilhelm walking through the castle, trying on Erik's old jacket, paralleling Wilhelm's upbringing as a Prince to an extremely religious upbringing. He's been raised in this place, with its long-standing traditions and deep beliefs that permeate into the modern world. He's surrounded by this institution and even though he tries his best to be himself and accept who he is, obviously it has fundamentally carved out his brain in a specific way. The royal upbringing is what made him so afraid of his sexuality, and even when he accepts that there are still parts of him that naturally fall into that safe self-serving mindset.

She has trouble combining with how she really feels.- Wilhelm is left out when August and Erik get to see each other, the etiquette book being forced into his hands, leaving Simon after his mother told him 'no more mistakes.', telling Simon that their kiss was a mistake. He doesn't know how to fit into either box, Prince or Wilhelm. He's in a completely new space and all he's trying to do is be exactly what everyone wants him to be, what he's expected to be. He struggles during the photo-op because he wants to be himself, but he's quickly reminded that he should actually just follow everyone else and fit the mould. This mindset is what makes him leave Simon in E4. He's struggling to find the line between what his upbringing expects of him and what he actually wants, and he can't manage to thread that needle no matter how much he wants to. The one time he figured it out, realising his mistake and backtracking, it didn't change anything. He was forced back into that same box. Despite his best efforts, Wilhelm doesn't know how to balance his title and himself.

Especially about Siv.- The anxious hovering before the kiss in episode 4. He's desperately trying to reassure himself this is okay and that he's allowed to be happy and accept himself even as the Prince. It's all he has, nobody else around him cares like Simon does, and still, he has to hesitate, he's afraid that once he crosses that line he can't go back. I always thought this mirrored the party scene, when Wilhelm looked like he wanted to kiss Simon, but the show cuts before we see (and I don't think they did kiss here tbh). He's so terrified of crossing these barriers he's made in his head, consciously or not, because once he does how will he go back? How could he go back? He doesn't know where to put these feelings, there's no space between his royal upbringing and societal expectations. Both of these scenes feel like a free-fall jump. He's risking everything just to see. To feel something that he's held back from himself, allow himself that experience. Get to know himself.

You wish that Malin could just ignore them,- The outside pressures on Wilhelm rearing their ugly heads. He's a poster-child for Hillerska, especially since Henry confirms that the school board thought Wilhelm would bring more students to the school. The plaque reminding him that he is responsible for the legacy of the school causes him to spiral, because he's a public figure whose name can never be separated from the school but he might be falling for a boy who he can't ever really be with, and he hates it. His mother reminding him that he can't make any more mistakes, that he's the sole heir to the throne and he needs to make the family proud, it just cements this fear. Wilhelm is stuck in this cycle of accept himself/ outside pressure to conform/ accept himself... and it's wearing him down already. He's taking his mother's words and applying them to what he knows she wouldn't like, even though she doesn't know about it. [You] in this scenario is Simon, or at least Wilhelm's interpretation of Simon. He imagines it's irritating watching him go between reaching out and pulling back, how draining it must be for Simon, but he also knows that there's no easy solution to this problem.

I mean, the duties and ideas about God- Again, God in this context is the Royal Family. Wilhelm giving his pre-written speech, Wilhelm giving his pre-planned lie about the tape. These scenes show his duties to the throne. He needs to keep up appearances, come hell or high water. There's a distinct lack of emotion in both scripts (though he does go off-book after Erik's passing, but this isn't a public space, so it makes sense). He is just following exactly what is expected of him, with no real personal attachment, even though both of these things are extremely emotional events. His duty to the Royal Family is to pretend that everything is fine, all the time. To rid himself of his humanity, just be the figurehead he's supposed to be.

It's not just coming from outside, it's her own fault, too.- Wilhelm's admission. It's not just the Royal Court deciding his actions, his every word, thought, and movement. He's accepting blame for himself, too. It's something he's been extremely hesitant to do in the series up until this point, but it was extremely necessary. Wilhelm's acceptance of fault is what helps reform that trust with Simon. It was Wilhelm's own recklessness that almost got him taken out of school, and it was his own naivety that made him believe Simon could trust him post-tape-denial. Yes, there were outside sources, but he wasn't acting as a puppet for the Royal Family, he was making his own decisions as well, and he's acknowledging the hurt that it brought to Simon. A lot of Wilhelm's S2 arc is related to taking responsibility and understanding the pain he's caused, as well as trying to amend it to the best of his ability. Of course, he still messes up, he's a teenager, but he puts in as much effort as he can.

She has been forced to...- I always thought the Queen manipulated Wilhelm by using the dead-brother-card to ensure he didn't confirm the sex tape. He was forced into giving that statement, and I think at this point Simon has begun to realise just how much power and reach Wilhelm's family (more specifically his mother) has over him and his own existence. He's forced to be this perfect son, with no problems, not a hair out of place, and it has shaped him. Even when Wilhelm fights against the manipulation, he knows that it's not going to work, because everyone around him is willing to do whatever it takes to get him to agree. Jan-Olof doesn't care about Wilhelm's upset at the song changing, all he has to do is say 'The Queen Requested It' because he knows that's all Wilhelm needs to hear to back down. His mother knows this, too. Although Wilhelm has free will and makes a lot of bad decisions on his own, his mother's ability to control and manipulate him only makes those bad decisions worse.

Follow those rules.- Wilhelm just wants to be the perfect son, and considering the fact the show starts on a PR disaster, it makes sense that he's doing anything he can to fix that public perception. He won't speak about politics because Royals are supposed to be politically neutral, even though he clearly isn't politically neutral. He tries to thread the needle, which endears Simon but also shows his fear of further repercussions. He's already lost so much after the fight video, so he's on his best behaviour now. Even months later, he still struggles with regulating emotions and suppressing his anxiety, causing him to be mad at himself for not doing enough. Not being the perfect boy who doesn't want to be openly queer and isn't upset that his ex-boyfriend has a new boyfriend. He can't pretend that he feels okay with these rules, but he also can't let himself bend them. The breakdown after the first kiss is the biggest reflection of this. Yes, he kissed Simon back the second time, but once he was reminded that this was real life where others were nearby and there could be public ramifications to being caught like that, suddenly he's desperately spewing out anything that could remotely sound like he's straight. When Simon actually listens and tries to leave, though? That's also bad. He can't break the rules, but he also can't imagine letting this go. The rules he has to follow just trample him and cause more harm than good, and Simon recognises this.

She can't just throw away everything she's ever learned about right and wrong.- Mostly just highlighting the differences between when Wilhelm was kissed by Felice and when he was kissed by Simon. The kiss with Simon felt right, he was surprised but wanted it to continue. The kiss with Felice didn't. He can't throw away everything he's learned about what's right and wrong for him. It kind of was supposed to spin the line on its head. It's not what he's been taught as right and wrong, but what he's learned, from experience.

She discovers that- The therapy session with Boris, the one where Wilhelm realises he actually can be emotionally vulnerable with Simon and tell him how he feels, and let him be informed. He's finally learning that he has some say and control in his life, that it isn't just predetermined because of who he is and what he was born into. There's this change in expression that emphasises his sudden realisation, like his whole world has been spun on its head.

She wants to change her life,- Confronting Simon with his feelings!!! Simon had asked him to just be open and honest, and for once, he actually is. He wants to change, he wants to have control in his life, and he wants to pursue what's actually important to him! Of course, he tells Simon don't charge August because then I can't abdicate BUT he gives him the option to do whatever feels right. He isn't demanding control of a situation which is out of his hands, he's just letting Simon know his options. Also he apologises and is the bigger person about the wrongs he's done, he's changing for the better. His love is making him better.

Because of what she learns through her feelings for Siv.- Wilhelm has grown a lot throughout the course of his relationship with Simon, even when they weren't together a lot of his growth is centred around Simon and wanting to fix their relationship- and by extension himself. Happy, silly wilmon contrasted with more emotional and sad wilmon not only shows how much they've been through together, how much they've faced together, but also just hammers home the depth of their connection. Wilhelm feels safe and vulnerable with Simon, and Simon feels comfortable and happy with Wilhelm. They're always reaching out or touching each other in these scenes, the constant affection between them just emphasises their love and connection which is what this edit is all about.

So it isn't all bad, and we don't know what happens after the book ends.- - More wilmon comforting each other, lots of touching and holding and love. Even when their relationship is in a bad place, there's still that love and care there in every action they do together. Everything they do is an output of their love- even when they're upset and fighting is because they love each other and they're hurt and don't know how to express it. They just want to hold each other together and keep close, and the beauty in that pure expression of love just carries through the scenes so nicely. They're in love your honour!!!

Closing Scene- I chose this scene because it is just such a perfect encapsulation of wilmon to me. The soft, gentle movements and the warm lighting, the comfort and safety they feel... it's also my favourite scene in the whole show but that's just my opinion etc... truly what I want is for wilmon to have a silly little morning after scene that isn't tainted with the agony to come. We don't know what happens after young royals ends, but I imagine it is gonna be that scene every morning because they're in love!!!!! and I do not care what anyone else says!!!

FONT CHOICE

The font I used is I'm DW pica!!! it's the folklore/evermore font, and I think it has storytelling vibes and that kinda links back to the whole It's A Story For English Class thing :P

Also the text changes colour between Simon's voice and Wilhelm's voice because usually (read: if I'm making my edit like a conversation) I'll colour the texts to match who's speaking (or who matches the current lyrics, or who's POV I'm editing from). When I do this, Simon's text is always a yellow-gold and Wilhelm's is always a teal-blue.

COLOURING

The beginning of the edit has a pale pinky-reddy colouring over it, it's quite desaturated and it's supposed to feel quite cold and hopeless. In sadder edits I'll usually use a red/pink/purple or sometimes a blue pallet for colouring, and it'll be very desaturated. However, by the line she discovers that the colouring actually shifts to a warm golden tint (most of the time my gold colourings are modified from the S1E5 opening scene). Basically showing how he's gaining control and hope and life is looking better and happier :)

by the way how I shift colours in edits is literally just having two layers with the different colour overlays and making one go from 0-100% opacity at the same rate as the other goes from 100-0%. It looks pretty smooth imo :3

[kwonzoshi]

Here is my Day 3 contribution, not gonna lie, I struggled with this so.... I hope you guys like it. Prompt: 'Literature'.

@youngroyals-events

It was killing him. As dramatic as that sounds his heart felt like it was ripping in two. Simon didn’t want to talk to him, he didn’t want to talk to his parents, his brother was dead… and to top it all off, Simon went on a date with some idiot named Marcus. Freaking karaoke… he thought to himself, scoffing. It seemed that the only person desperate to talk to Wilhelm was August and that was the last person he wanted to deal with. On cue his phone vibrated in his pocket. He snapped it open to yet another message from his second cousin.

He rolled his eyes, ignoring him once again and immediately texting Felice.

He made his way into the classroom, apologizing to the teacher for being late. She explained that they were separating in groups of 4 and creating a presentation based on the book that was chosen. He glanced at the table and there was only one left, “Crisis” by Karin Boye. Wilhelm takes the book and immediately scans the room, trying to see who the other three in his group are. He freezes as he notices that Simon is holding the same small pink book. He clears his throat and looks around to find that Sara and Henry do as well. 

The teacher instructs the class to go to a study room to begin working on the project. He turns and quickly exits the room, making his way to the library, not sparing a glance back. As soon as he sits, he pulls out his phone:

He begins to bite his thumbnail as Simon and Henry walk into the room, sitting in two of the three empty chairs at the table. Simon sat across from him, making it difficult to look at anything but his beautiful face and those deep brown eyes. It took a moment for Wilhelm to notice, but Simon had his laptop already out and was furiously typing.

“Karin Boye,” Simon started reading off the screen, “was born in the year 1900. Crisis is an autobiographical novel about 20-year-old Malin Frost, who studies to become a teacher in the 1920s in Stockholm. She goes through a deep religious crisis, while at the same time she develops feelings for a fellow student, which awakens a need to find her own truth beyond all fixed ideals.” As Simon finished he looked up and into Wilhelm's eyes. Simon could have been speaking a foreign language for all Wilhelm knew. He didn’t absorb a single word that came out of that pretty mouth. All he could think of was how he wished he could kiss those pretty lips. He wanted so badly to kiss him. Just one more time.

“What?” Henry said, interrupting Wilhelm's thoughts, “So it’s about God or something? I only picked it because it was the shortest… I don’t know about you guys” he said, looking at Wilhelm.

“It was the only one she had left,” he responded, forcing himself to chuckle like that simple fact didn’t have his stomach tied into a million knots. 

“So, um” Simon started, ignoring their conversation, “how are we going to divide this up?”

“I’m not speaking during the presentation,” Wilhelm said a little too quickly, “You guys can do that.”

“Wasn’t Sara in our group too?” Henry asked, brows furrowing. 

“Yea," Simon answered, “she, uh, left her notebook in her room. She’ll be right here.”

“Yeah, okay,” Henry responded, rising to his feet as he ran his hands through his hair. “Well, in that case, I’m gonna go and get some coffee.” He quickly left, leaving Wilhelm and Simon briefly frozen in place.

We’re finally alone, Wilhelm thought to himself. There was something he needed to ask Simon, but he wasn’t even sure how to. He remembered Felice’s words from the day before, about being direct. He looked around, licking his lips nervously. He decided to just… say it.

He looked into Simon’s eyes again and almost chickened out, but he needed to do this. For his own sanity. “Why did you say you didn’t know Marcus?” he asked. His heart was beating a mile a minute in his chest, though he tried to hide it. 

“I said I did.” Simon said simply, eyes never leaving his.

“But not that you hang out,” Wilhelm rashly retorted. Simon’s eyes dropped for a moment before locking back into his. Wilhelm continued, “If there’s something going on between you, just tell me.” 

Simon sighed, “Okay… we’re hanging out.” Those three words hurt so much more than he expected. He thought he wanted to know... that he had to know. Now he wasn't so sure. Wilhelm’s heart was no longer racing, it was vibrating. He sighed as he shifted his gaze from Simon’s, nervously licking his lips again and glancing around the room.

“Okay,” he muttered, feeling defeated. So much for fate, he thought to himself as he grabbed his pen and began to take notes on god knows what. “That wasn’t so difficult,” Wilhelm continued, sparing Simon a quick glance and praying that his emotions would remain in check. They fell into a tense and uncomfortable silence and the only sound was that of Wilhelm's pen as he scribbled notes.

Simon took a long deep breath, “We’re not together,” he quietly revealed. 

Wilhelm’s head shot up, eyes searching Simon’s face. What did he just say?! He thought, his emotions doing a 180. At this point his heart was doing back flips in his chest and the knots in his stomach were twisting and turning.

“It’s really none of your business…” Simon continued, “but we’re not.” 

For a moment, everything became still, but before Wilhelm could say anything, Henry came back and loudly placed his mug on the table. He turned to face Henry and was too focused on answering his questions to notice that Simon was still staring at him, with nothing but adoration in his eyes. 

Later that evening:

Wilhelm sat at his desk trying, and failing miserably, to do his homework. He decided to update Felice on the situation. 

He spent the next few hours on the phone with Felice, talking about the brief, yet emotional, conversation he had with Simon, the book and how it paralleled real life, and his broken heart that was surely going to be the cause of his death.

[mysteriousboo]

Boop!

Where I live we are celebrating a festivity related to books and roses! So if you read books, what’s your favorite book genre?

I love almost everything fictional, but I also read some nature books from time to time. Inside fictional books, my favorite genres are mystery, adventure, romance and sometimes horror as well.

Boop!!

what is the festival called?

And girl, I'm such a bookworm!! Like in 2022, I read over 13 million words, which is roughly around 196 novels!! My favorite genre is prolly also fiction, but I enjoy reading pretty much everything!! lately I have been reading crisis by karin boye!! It's actually a biography of the author herself! Would 10/10 recommend!!

[nowtoboldlygo]

recs for women in translation month: Crisis by Karin Boye, translated from the Swedish by Amanda Doxtater. i adore passion projects, and the translator's love of this novel let me fall in love with it as well. read if you love existential chess, estrangement from faith and family, and crushing on your classmate.

[raincitygirl76]

Awesome vid by @wilmonsvibe

Relevant tags from @areanynotused

My take is of course the Swedish Literature teacher knew! She’s not stupid, and neither one of them is being particularly subtle in this conversation.

She probably chuckled to herself the first day of the project, when she realized both Wilhelm and Simon had picked the same book: Karin Boye’s queer coming of age novel.

[missbolt]

Yes, of course it hurts when buds burst

– Wilhelm in the light of Karin Boye

In the second season, Wille and Simon work together on a group project about the book Kris "Crisis" by Karin Boye. The book's plot has obvious parallels to Simon and Wille's story, allowing them to reflect on their own relationship through their discussion of the book. I wonder whether including a work by Karin Boye may serve another purpose in the series as well.

In Norway where I'm from, and I think in Sweden as well, Karin Boye's name is inextricably linked to her most well-known poem Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister "Yes, of course it hurts when buds burst". The title/first line of this poem is particularly famous and is frequently referenced. In fact, whenever I hear or think of Karin Boye, this line automatically pops into my head, and I don't think I'm alone in that. As it happens, this poem may also serve as a beautiful metaphor for Wille's journey in the series.

Here is the full poem, first in the original Swedish version, then in an English translation slightly adapted from Jenny Nunn's translation:

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister.

Varför skulle annars våren tveka?

Varför skulle all vår heta längtan

bindas i det frusna bitterbleka?

Höljet var ju knoppen hela vintern.

Vad är det för nytt, som tär och spränger?

Ja visst gör det ont när knoppar brister,

ont för det som växer

och det som stänger.

Ja nog är det svårt när droppar faller.

Skälvande av ängslan tungt de hänger,

klamrar sig vid kvisten, sväller, glider –

tyngden drar dem neråt, hur de klänger.

Svårt att vara oviss, rädd och delad,

svårt att känna djupet dra och kalla,

ändå sitta kvar och bara darra -

svårt att vilja stanna

och vilja falla.

Då, när det är värst och inget hjälper,

brister som i jubel trädets knoppar.

Då, när ingen rädsla längre håller,

faller i ett glitter kvistens droppar .

glömmer att de skrämdes av det nya,

glömmer att de ängslades för färden –

känner en sekund sin största trygghet,

vilar i den tillit som skapar världen.

Yes, of course it hurts when buds burst.

Otherwise why would spring hesitate?

Why would all our fervent longing

be bound in the frozen bitter haze?

The bud was the casing all winter.

What is this new thing, which consumes and bursts?

Yes, of course it hurts when buds burst,

pain for that which grows

and for that which envelops.

Yes, it is surely hard when drops fall.

Trembling with fear they hang heavy,

clammer on the branch, swell and slide -

the weight pulls them down, how they cling.

Hard to be uncertain, afraid and divided,

hard to feel the deep pulling and calling,

yet sit there and just quiver –

hard to want to stay

and to want to fall.

Then, at the point of agony when all is beyond help,

the tree's buds burst as if in jubilation,

then, when no fear holds them back any longer,

the branch's drops tumble in a shimmer,

forgetting that they were afraid of the new,

forgetting that they were fearful of the journey –

feeling for a second their greatest security,

resting in the trust

that creates the world.

In the series, we see how Wille goes from letting his family dictate his life, to realising what agency he does have, and finding his own voice and path. We see him going from trying to conform to what is expected of someone in his role, to prioritising himself and Simon and their love. We see him going from struggling with whether he as a crown prince can be openly queer, to coming out very publicly.

Karin Boye's poem reminds us of why Wille couldn't free himself from the expectations of him as crown prince and come out earlier: because the growth he goes through hurts so damn much. Even spring hesitates. How can we fault Wille for doing the same?

However, Boye's poem also provides us with hope. They start the group project on her book in episode three of season two, a very painful episode where Wille sinks into the depths of hopelessness and despair. It is as though the reference to Boye's poem which for me at least is implied here, tries to reassure us and Wille that everything will be alright. No matter how long spring hesitates, it will always arrive at last. The painful events of this episode is a catalyst for Wille and Simon's journey back to each other again, for Wille finding his voice and forging his own path. And we know that when no fear holds them back any longer, the drops will fall and spring will arrive at last. This moment comes during Wille's speech at the very end of the season, where he says: Jag är också rädd. Men jag tänker sluta med det nu. "I'm also scared. But that ends now." Immediately afterwards, he owns up to being in the video with Simon, thereby publicly coming out as queer and freeing himself from what has been expected of him as crown prince. The he turns and smiles at Simon, who smiles back. The buds have burst as in jubilation.

Whether the writers intend to evoke this poem or not, it perfectly encapsulates the enormous growth Wille goes through during these first two seasons. The growing process is incredibly painful, but it is what ultimately allows Wille to blossom and turn into a truer, better version of himself, letting everyone see the colours he has previously kept hidden inside himself. I can't wait to see Wille blossom in season three!

[putnamcapital]

monsters

i had made a list of Things I Absolutely Couldn't Abide From Season 3 - like, if this happens i have to stop watching - and they were basically all "major character dies, in the following order of likelihood: Sara, August, Simon". i would have to stop because it would count to me as lazy writing: you create a perfectly trauma system, where the trauma is both personal and political, and rather than sit with the complexity and actually confront it, you just kill someone off, job done. That death produces the release that the system can't actually generate itself. In my list of 'unacceptable deaths' it never even remotely occurred to me to include Wilhelm, despite the suicide reference from Crisis / Karin Boye - because i just couldn't see them getting away with that kind of move, narratively, and b/c I couldn't see Lisa wanting to "use" Wille to set an example in quite so blunt a way, even if she is a raving republican.

But i realized that as i was watching ep4-5, what i was actually feeling was like i was watching Wille's death in slow-time - so much so that by the end of ep5, he was a monster to me. my reaction was "how can i love Wille? and how can i want Simon to love him? how can we (me and Simon) have wasted so much of our lives on this man, who is not even man, he is just monster." a very brilliant friend pointed out that the whole point of trauma is that it is dehumanizing; it is precisely what turns people into monsters; and the move to reject / banish the monster is the first move towards dehumanizing them (and the first move towards humanizing them again is to try to understand, as in, Simon with his heart the size of the universe, to August "that sounds like an eating disorder"). So it was just the confirmation -- rather than the act -- when Simon said, "i don't recognize you anymore, i can't do this anymore" - b/c Wille was no longer Wille. So the death in that scene was not of their relationship, but of Wille. and i felt absolutely blindsided by this. It had always been the fear of losing one of the other characters (i.e. as happened in my fic, Sara gets 'lost' to addiction) or having to lose the relationship - which, hell, is not the end of the world. But somehow 'losing' Wille felt like an existential loss that i was neither prepared for nor willing to accept, regardless of what Lisa thinks should be the morale of the story.

[littlebabywille]

for the readers among us who are interesting in reading kris by karin boye, i was able to easily purchase the english translation online. i’m so eager to read this. one of my favorite parts of season two.

[cittycattt]

I’ve literary just ordered the book Wille and Simon’s group were presenting working with in their class; “Crisis” by Karin Boye. Like of course I I’ll buy it, if you’re gonna talk so much about a book in a series such as brilliant as this, I’m bound to read it!!!

[justanotherhyperfixation]

I haven’t been able to read Crisis by Karin Boye yet, but i came across this review yesterday. It brings something slightly different from what i originally understood from the book scene in episode 5. 

Malin character is depicted as extremely tormented from the begging of the book, even before meeting Siv (which i didn’t get before). It is actually meeting Siv that seems to bring her clarity. Although the book was written in the early 1930s, her homosexuality is not the cause of her problems it rather seems to be the solution. The complet opposite could have been expected in view of the period in which the story was written - at that time, homosexuality is criminalized and listed as a mental illness in Sweden. Her love for Siv made her question her faith and devotion to religious traditions - which were at the core of her assumed depression. It is this questioning that saves her from her neuroses. If i get it right, it’s a testimony of a queer person living in a homophobic environnement but for whom - despite everything - the discovery of her romantic and sexual identity was saving and not a condemnation.

The parallel with Wilhelm’s life is even more beautiful. It’s not just Wilhelm trying to reconcile his desire to be with Simon and his position in the monarchy. His love for Simon spark off his desire to lead a revolution. It’s how their love is what frees Wilhelm from his role of crown prince that stifled him until now and how it helps him to create a new place that suits him better.