#minor hillerska kids

[bluedalahorse]

Thinking some more about the futures for minor Hillerska kids on the bus this morning:

I now associate Henry strongly with his love of soccer/football thanks to @sflow-er, so I can see him rather happily owning a soccer team.

Do we have any thoughts about what line of business Nils’s parents are in? I want Nils to start his own company in a similar field as his parents but do something radically different in how he runs the business, such that it causes awkward fighting at holiday dinners. Nils’s partner works in tech or cybersecurity. Nils’s partner’s dog works in Being A Good Girl Who Deserves A Treat.

Stella gets involved in some sort of youth-empowerment work with an anti-bullying focus. Her (former) mean girl status (because she’s had like 7-10 more years to grow as a person, and this work is part of her attempt to atone) means she has helpful insight into the bullies’ mindsets.

Fredrika I imagine studying art history in university and getting pretty passionate about it actually? She has a junior curator job at a museum where her mother is a big donor; she knows it’s her mother’s donations that got her through the door and tries to hide how ambivalent she feels about that. She has perhaps grown less than Stella so far in some ways (and more in others) but her reckoning is on the way.

That’s it for the moment. Thoughts and additions always welcome!

[raincitygirl76]

Things I want to see happen in Season 3 of Young Royals, in no particular order.

1. August’s body dysmorphia and eating disorder addressed. Not because I want any kind of redemption arc for him (I don’t!), but because he’s a human being with an undiagnosed illness. Even if he’s a louse.

2. So, Sara has stopped boarding at Hillerska and gone back home. I want to see Simon unable to even look at her without feeling betrayed. And I want Linda to pick up on the fact that her kids hate each other right now, even if they don’t tell her why. Linda was remarkably unobservant in S2. Also, it suddenly occurs to me why they had Sara turn 18 in S2. So she could make a statement about August’s actions without Linda having to be there. If Sara’s no longer a minor, she doesn’t need a parent chaperoning her to a police interview.

3. Felice to get an actual storyline of her own. Felice is glorious, but she spent all of S2 being Wille’s Emotional Support Human, with occasional breaks where she got to talk about her horse. She needs a story! Not necessarily a romance, but some kind of plot. We could bring back her mother. Smysan Ehrencrona would be livid if she found out Felice had it within her power to sex up the Crown Prince (in 2.03) and didn’t do so.

4. Micke. Not because I think he’s a good dad, he’s clearly anything but. But now Simon and Wille are public, I think someone from the tabloids will track down Mr Eriksson Sr and it’ll be a car crash of an interview.

5. Jan-Olof and Simon interacting. In any way.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 6

Final episode, and we're picking up the morning right after last episode. The curtains are still closed though, good for them!

Subtext: The something Simon needs to take care of is of course the situationship with Marcus.

Subtext: Real subtle music choice there, show. This is where August decides to solve the problem of Simon going to the police in his own twisted ways.

Lost in translation: August meekly asked for some changes to the speech last episode, whereas Wilhelm just changed it without asking for permission. Here's what it says, with his changes: Hillerska 120 years Your Majesty, dear mom. And dear Hillis. It's an honour to be standing here today speaking to you - not only as Crown Prince, but as your classmate. Hillerska welcomed me during a very difficult but meaningful time in my life. (He's scratched out "Eders" at the top, which is an archaic way of saying and spelling "ers", which in turn is a special version of the plural second person possessive pronoun "er", which is only used in a formal address like this.)

Lost in translation: The second cue card has more changes: Hillerska isn't just the place where we are taught to be good citizens so that in the future we can shoulder the responsibilities that has been imposed on us. It is also a home. Hillerska became a home to me, just like it was for my dear mother, and my brother before me... and for many of you. You have become family. The school motto is "take responsibility for your legacy" "feel your responsibility for the legacy", be proud of your history, pass on the traditions to the next generation.

Cinematography: The show normally only uses these fourth wall breaks to bookend each season, but all occasions have been when Wilhelm has been making a public speech or felt observed. Here he's practising a public speech, and the show uses the fourth wall break to really bring home this point.

Culture: The show says that this scene takes place just a couple of days after the Valentine's ball, which puts us in the middle of February. But we can tell by the blooming cherry tree in the background that this scene was actually shot in mid April. This is absolutely not what February looks like in the Stockholm area in Sweden, which made me super confused about the timeline.

Subtext: It absolutely is about Wilhelm, but Marcus got it completely wrong anyway, Simon doesn't like Wilhelm because he is a prince, he likes him despite him being a prince. Oh, and it's a nice touch to separate them physically with an electric fence, to really show their distance.

Subtext: No, the person who feels like a victim here is actually Marcus. He doesn't fit in with the rich kids at the school, and now he thinks that they "stole" Simon away from him. Whatever, who cares, he has served his narrative purpose, byyyeeeeee!

Subtext: Loyalty is a huge theme in this episode, so we start this cursed subplot with a nice long opening shot of the motto of the Forest Ridge house, to remind us of how important loyalty is to the upper classes.

Subtext: Everyone tries to manipulate Wilhelm by invoking his dead brother, of course August does the same.

Subtext: So why does Alexander side with August? Wilhelm actually treated Alexander like shit, he threw him under the bus to protect Simon last season, and he feigned ignorance in the first episode of this season when Alexander came back to school, which means the Forest Ridge oath doesn't mean much to him. Alexander feels completely betrayed, because Wilhelm should have been loyal to his house brothers. August on the other hand promises him loyalty. If Alexander takes the blame, then the future king of Sweden, August, will owe him a huge personal favour, and that's just worth a lot more to him and his family than the minor inconvenience of a criminal trial. He's got money, and the full backing of the royal court, he's never gonna go to jail, jail is for poor people!

Subtext: ...like Simon, and his unemployed substance-abusing dad. Simon would not be treated gently by the justice system for dealing drugs, Wilhelm can't really intervene on his behalf, and the royal court wants Simon gone, so they won't help out either, which is why August's threat is very, very real.

Subtext: August has constantly been trying to impose upper-class values on Wilhelm, all the way since season 1, and that includes all the lies and secrets and cover-ups. He truly believes rug-sweeping is the best way of handling the situation, and can't really understand why Wilhelm won't play the game like the rest of them do.

Subtext: We know that Wilhelm's love language is touch, so August touching him is a violation that he reacts very strongly to, punching his arm away.

Culture: Clay pigeon shooting or trap shooting started evolving as a sport over 150 years ago, when upper class shooting clubs realized what a bother it was having to collect a ton of live pigeons when a gentleman simply wanted to practice hunting for a bit, so they developed cheaper clay targets instead. The birds are made out of an easily breakable hard clay, and the launcher is controlled with a foot pedal. The shotgun is loaded with birdshot, which is pretty harmless for humans at long range.

Subtext: A nice little throwback to S1E1, when August told Wilhelm that they could get away with anything, including murder.

Blink and you miss it: August glances at Sara, so Detective Felice quickly figures out that it was her before she admits it.

Blink and you miss it: Simon is actually smiling and enjoying seeing August humiliated by Wilhelm.

Subtext: Also a throwback to season 1, when Sara gave Simon shit for "always wanting to give people a second chance". Now she's doing the exact same thing, and August is ironically just as unworthy of it as Sara and Simon's dad was.

Subtext: Another theme this season has been about people protecting themselves, while claiming to protect others, so here's Sara accusing August of doing exactly that.

Lost in translation: Simon says "Snälla, jag orkar inte", which can't be directly translated, because English is missing the incredibly useful Scandinavian verb orka. It means having the physical or mental strength or stamina or energy to do something. When it's negated like here, it can range in meaning from not having enough stamina to run a long race, or not having enough strength to lift something heavy, or not being able to eat more food, or not wanting to deal with a person, or not having the energy to handle a stressful situation. If you no longer orkar something, you're done, you're finished, you're too tired, you're too weak, you've had enough.

Subtext: Again, Wilhelm's love language is touch, so he's trying to comfort Simon the only way he knows.

Culture: Kaggeholms Slott, the main shooting location for the show was built in the early 1700's, so this is some kind of detail from the earliest years of the main building.

Blink and you miss it: Simon hasn't eaten a single clementine this season because Rosh has been hogging all of them!!!

Culture: Linda's tag says "Sjuksköterska" - nurse, so she obviously works in healthcare. She's also wearing scrubs, so she must have taken off directly from work to accompany Simon to the police. Also note that being a regular nurse in Sweden is a pretty low status job because you'll just be a grunt worker at some hospital or care home, so this fits the social class of the Eriksson family.

Cinematography: I think this is the last amount of colour Simon has ever worn, signalling that he's not feeling himself, he's completely defeated.

Subtext: Damn, I got hungry just looking at this food. What's going on here is that the school is hosting the royal family and treating them to a nice private fancy dinner, and they've even got their own china monogrammed with the school logo. By the bottle we can also tell that Wilhelm is being served alcohol, it's a cider from Danish Somersby. And from the background dialogue, we also learn that both his parents went to Hillerska at the same time, where they presumably met.

Subtext: If it's so important to be able to talk about your emotions, why is your son so bad at it? It couldn't be the case that he learned to suppress his feelings instead from his parents, right?

Subtext: Oh look, it's the theme of the episode yet again! In Forest Ridge the loyalty is explicit in the house motto, and it's of course a big part of the girls' house as well.

Subtext: Well that's a big fat lie, the most obvious secret is the one Stella is harbouring, but they're all keeping lots of little secrets from each other. Good thing Sara learned to keep her mouth shut at least so as not to out Stella.

Subtext: Colour theory for the show tells us that red symbolizes the love between Wilhelm and Simon, and here Wilhelm is deciding between his love for Simon, or fulfilling his royal duty. Since he's currently facing away from the red light, and looking at Erik's old cigarette case, he's leaning towards duty.

Subtext: Colour theory is in full swing over at Simon's place as well, him and Ayub are having a late night videochat about Simon having to decide between his love for Wilhelm or his principles. However, his lava lamp turns red just as the scene ends, showing us what his final decision is.

Blink and you miss it: Sara cleaned out her room and left the Manor House, but she left behind the riding pants the other girls gave her for her birthday.

Culture: If you've read my post on royal names and titles, you know that Ludvig ought to be a prince, and ought to be styled "His Royal Highness", so I'm not sure why he's consistently being referred to as Duke Ludvig in this season. Oh, and if the reigning monarch is a king, he and his queen are styled "Your Majesties" together. But if the reigning monarch is a queen, only she is styled "Your Majesty", while her husband is styled "Your Royal Highness", because blatant sexism.

Subtext: August really thought he'd be their equal for this event, but he's always being put in place and shown he is less than.

Cinematography: Spot the character who really doesn't want to be in this photo shoot!

Subtext: Back in season 1 when August said he knew everyone's name, he wasn't joking, he actually does remember people's names!

Oh, and there's a little lost in translation here as well. August says "Tack för senast", which is a ubiquitous Scandinavian politeness phrase which means "Thanks for last time". You're supposed to use this every time you talk to someone after having gone to some event together, and especially if it was something that the other person hosted and invited you to.

Blink and you miss it: Nils and Vincent are hilariously taking the absolute piss out of August for enjoying standing in the receiving line for the jubilee.

Subtext: Easy there, Don Corleone! August simply overpaid for the horse, thinking Sara would love him for yet another material thing, but what she really wanted him to do was to change and come clean about the sex tape. The horse isn't gonna sway her from leaving him.

Cinematography: As I was taking screencaps for this post, I stumbled on this scene showing Sara leaving Hillerska, but my only question is who the hell that dude is? Why is he in the shot? Why is he there? Is he an extra who is supposed to be there, or is he a random person who was just happening to wait for the real world bus right here right now? It doesn't make any sense in universe, because every goddamn adult in the vicinity is busy with the jubilee thing. Why is this guy not attending? WHO IS HE? I NEED ANSWERS!

Subtext: Through the magic of literary analysis our couple grew closer and came to understand one another better, so Simon chose to compromise his principles out of love for Wilhelm. Oh, and there totally is another way, but it requires Wilhelm to compromise his duty...

Culture: I've already gushed about how good the costuming is on this show, because Wilhelm is wearing an impeccably tailored school uniform that fits him perfectly, while Simon is wearing an ill-fitting second hand uniform. You can tell because Wilhelm's uniform is showing the correct amount of shirt sleeve outside his jacket, between one and two centimetres, while Simon's jacket is completely covering his shirt sleeves.

Subtext: This piece of perfect poetic cinema is of course a mirror to the ending of season 1 when Wilhelm tells Simon that he loves him. This time, Simon says it back for the first time.

Cinematography: I know it's a coat room and not a closet, but close enough, and when Jan-Olof tries to hurry Wilhelm along and get him to stop talking to Simon, Wilhelm responds by literally coming out of the closetcoat room, foreshadowing the end of the episode.

Subtext: Literally as the next speaker, figuratively as the next crown prince.

Subtext: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no! Sara hasn't talked to Simon since the shooting range scene, so she doesn't know why Simon never reported August, or that August threatened to take revenge by reporting where the drugs originally came from. I guess we need to setup some season 3 drama?

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm appears to change his mind at the exact moment the principal says "replace".

Subtext: We've seen Wilhelm struggle all season with his duty, and not being able to put on a public persona, but in this moment it's on full blast, and a look that tells August to sit the fuck down again, because this is his job, he's not gonna be replaced any time soon.

Subtext: This is one of the lines that Wilhelm added to his speech, and it's the complete opposite of what he thought of Hillerska in the very first episode, where he saw it as some kind of punishment to have to live there for three years.

Subtext: Oh look, the tradition theme™! Let's just kick it, stab it, and drown it, while the cameras are rolling!

Cinematography: Cue the camera panning to the people experiencing said mass panic.

Subtext: The MVP of the season, Boris my man, enjoying the fruits of his labour. The unsung hero we all deserved! I bet though he's been secretly plotting the downfall of the monarchy this entire time!

Subtext: Just like this song played at the end of episode 4, showing what Wilhelm was feeling, this time it shows what Simon is feeling for Wilhelm. It's also a nice parallel to season 1, where the Revolution song was used in both episode 4 and 6.

Subtext: The lyrics are a bit on the nose like most of this season, but Simon said the he loved Wilhelm, and in return Wilhelm shows Simon that he loves him, by coming out, and not keeping their relationship a secret any longer, which was the main conflict of the entire season.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm is always comparing himself to his brother and trying to live up to his memory, so after making this choice, he quickly glances skywards as if to check in with him. Yeah, you're alright kid. Erik would be so very proud of you. I'm not crying, you're crying! Damn allergies! I swear, this goddamn show. 😭😭😭

Cinematography: Finally we book-end this season as well with Wilhelm breaking the fourth wall and staring at us. But this time we see a hint of a smile as he's doing it, because this time is the first time he's really in control of his life, doing what he wants, and not just doing what he's told or what he's expected to do.

[saynomorefic]

Day 8: Identity / Discrimination for Simon's Month 2024, hosted by the lovely @youngroyals-events

Simon (finally) gets interviewed about his experience with discrimination and harassment at Hillerska.

Read on ao3 (above) or below the cut <3 (1k, T)

CW: brief mentions of racism, homophobia and *the* video

"We were told that you are one of the first people we should speak to.” A tall white woman with brown hair and glasses sat across from Simon, taking a sip of her coffee. Boris sat to her left, looking at Simon for any sign of discomfort. 

“Mhm.” Simon shifted on the edge of the stiff leather chair. Felice told him the gist of what they were going to ask him about, but he still felt shaken. He realized that he hadn't actually told anyone the whole picture before, and doing so for this committee assessment felt sterile and unwelcoming. 

“Where shall we begin?” The woman folded her hands together. Simon looked back at her. Was she just expecting him to write her a memoir? 

Boris cleared his throat. “Perhaps, Simon can start with the beginning of his time at Hillerska.” 

Grateful for the direction, Simon unfolded his hands and thought back. “In the beginning, I knew Sara and I were outsiders.” He focused on the tapping sound where the woman's pencil hit the desk. It felt like such a long time ago. “But I didn't think it would get as bad as it did.”

The woman's brow knit for a moment, and then seeming to remember herself, her face dropped to a neutral expression. “Outsiders? How so?”

Simon laughed. Actually laughed. He couldn't help it. He gestured down at himself. “Do I look like I belong here?” 

“Can you be a bit more - specific?” She asked, unamused. 

“Sure. It was the small things at first. I could feel the way they looked at us. Sometimes people would point at us when we were walking to class from the bus stop, or stare at the clothes we wear. In the beginning, it was easy to pretend I didn't see it. Marieberg had its problems, too. My sister got bullied there.” He paused. The woman was jotting something down, 

“Then, the verbal harassment started. I just thought it was people testing me, the new, non-res kid. But they’d say that word like it was dirty. Non-res. And then August started calling me sosse, because I happened to speak up aboit social issues in class.” 

“This term, sosse, is an abbreviation for socialist. But it is also has a somewhat racialized component, because Simon's mother is from Venezuela,” Boris provided. The assessor wrote something down. 

“And did you ever report this behavior?” She asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose and looking condescendingly at him. Simon wanted to yell. 

“No, I did not,” he said emphatically. Boris looked back and forth between them like he was watching a game of ping pong. 

“And may I ask why you didn't report this behavior?” Simon crossed his arms over his chest defensively. 

“Because they were being jerks. Nothing to write home about. It's not a surprise that the wealthiest school in Sweden would have a bullying or class problem.” He stared daggers at her.

The woman looked at him, finally, right in his eyes. “Mr. Eriksson. I understand your frustration. Your experience is valuable to us -”

“Yeah, and how long did it take for Hillerska to give a fuck about its minorities? Until the world found out that the little princes had gotten hazed?” Boris coughed loudly.

“Mr. Eriksson -”

“My name is Simon. Mr. Eriksson is my father.” 

“Simon,” she sighed, then smiled tightly. “I am truly, truly sorry for your experience. But things will not improve if Hillerska does not know what to fix, or how to fix it. That's where you and I come in. So please, if you will, this should only take a few more minutes.”

Boris looked at him questioningly, a silent confirmation that Simon was alright. He nodded back curtly. “What else do you want to know?” 

The woman picked up a stack of files and began to read. “It says here you were a victim of child pornography, potentially recorded by another student. Did your experience with harassment, verbal or physical, change at Hillerska after this event?”

“Excuse me, but this is entering highly sensitive, private territory involving minors and an active court case. Simon should not have to -”

“It's okay.” He took a breath. “For one, all of Hillerska knew what I looked like naked, and who was in my bed. Once Wilhelm came forward, the things people would say about me online - vile, disgusting comments about me being gay, or a class traitor, or about my race - were ten times worse. Most people at Hillerska just said those same things behind my back because of who I was dating. You can write that down,” he said, looking pointedly at her notepad. 

“I see,” she commented. “And did the school do anything to address this situation?” 

At this point, Boris began to look nervous. Hillerska did jack shit, and he knew it. They were too busy attempting to not get the school shut down over the scandal that victimized their inner sanctum, and breaking up a blood feud between the two next in line for the Swedish crown. 

“No,” he said, crossing his arms and looking out the window. 

“Hmm.” The woman paused for a moment, looking down at the papers in front of her. “I am sorry, Mr. - Simon - that your school did not attempt to provide you with the proper resources after such a traumatic event.” Simon averted his eyes towards her, a surprising amount of emotion on her face like a break in the clouds. 

“Thank you,” he said, looking at Boris. 

“And I am sorry, too, that priorities were elsewhere,” he stated, folding one of his legs over the other. “It was unacceptable.” He looked embarrassed. Simon felt his throat constrict. 

“Are we done?” He asked, looking back and forth between them. The woman looked at Boris and said something quietly. He shook his head. 

“You can go now, Simon. Thank you very much.” Boris’s eyes flashed kindly at him. He left the room in a daze, ambling towards his locker to collect his things. Sara planned to meet him afterwards; he couldn't imagine talking to anyone else about what had just happened. 

“Hey,” Alexander said, brushing past Simon in the hallway. 

“Hey,” Simon muttered, turning to watch him walking away. He was headed quite purposefully towards Boris' office.

[billfarrah]

I don't know if I'm in the minority here but what I loved about season 2 is actually Simon's storyline! I get wanting to dive deeper into his family life and that better be the plan for season 3 if they get one, but all the things we did get I thought were brilliant. I loved loved Simon in season 1 but he at times he came across a little perfect with his incredibly strong morals and such a clear understanding of who he is. I mean yes he was selling booze and drugs to help him and Sara make it through Hillerska but that felt pretty justified.

I don't know how anyone can say that Simon was just reduced to a love interest this season when those romances worked so well to bring to light the way Simon struggles. We learned that he runs away from difficult feelings instead of really dealing with them, he can be talked into things he knows are not right (we can say whatever we want about Marcus and his manipulation but Simon should have never even went on a second date with him) and we learned that to an unnerving level he doesn't let himself break down (that gun scene and the way Simon held all of his anger in - chef's kiss acting from Omar).

And clearly there's something about Wille that just makes him feel all the possible emotions and he's so drawn into that and maybe a part of it is the fact that he gets a little bit off on the drama (hello the whole swinging a ball at Wille's face and then proceeding to make him jealous at the locker room and at the ball despite the fact that he knew perfectly well that Wille is already so fucking jealous). Now that I think about it, and don't hate me for it, I suspect Marcus all in all is a little too boring for him. A kid he went to pre-school with who knows all of his personal shit because their mothers are friends? That's not the life Simon wants, he doesn't want to stay in Bjärstad, he's told us this in so many ways. He wants to be a singer probably. Listen, he kissed an obviously closeted Prince of Sweden after spending the equivalent of one day with him, he is looking for drama just a little bit. Simon is good and honest and he loves the people around him so much but he's also a little messy and a little petty and he doesn't always make the right choices and all of that just makes me love him a thousand times more.

Sorry for the insanely long message I just have a lot of thoughts that I'm desperate to share 😂 Love your blog and the incredibly thoughtful conversations you are having here 💞

I love this I love this I love this I want to have this framed. This is exactly how I’ve come to view Simon’s storyline in season 2 after sitting with it for a while.

At first I was a little bummed that we didn’t get more of Simon’s family life, but if you think about the way Simon’s storyline ended in s1, it leads perfectly into his storyline in season 2. His season 2 arc begins when Sara tells him he lets everyone piss on him and when he tells Wille that he has to deal with things on his own. Simon took what Sara said to heart and said it was time to start prioritizing himself. He had no reason to stay in contact with Micke and the main thing he’s dealing with in season is his heartbreak over Wille and the video situation. What we see is a Simon who is desperate to move on and forget everything that happened the previous semester and the way he deals with that is by running away. He does it in season 1 too (for example when he runs away from his and Wille’s argument in the music room).

I understand why people say he was reduced to a love interest, but to me, the centre of this story is the love story, so of course Wille and Simon’s character arcs are going to heavily deal with that. Wille’s storyline was heavily about his feelings for Simon as well - Simon is all he wants after all. The focus of the season was them trying to live without each other and it not working.

I also agree that Marcus is too boring for Simon. It’s set up in season 1 that Simon wants more out of his life as you said and he’s very clearly drawn to Wille - Rosh even calls him out on it in season 2. He is scared of getting hurt but can’t help but be drawn in. He keeps Wille at a distance but then pulls him back in when he feels him drifting away. As you said, he’s a little messy and petty and he experienced so many emotions this season and I thought it was brilliantly done.

Simon has a fire inside of him just as much as Wille does and that’s why they’re so drawn to each other - they bring that fire out in each other.

I also loved that we got to see more of Simon’s love for singing. I thought that part of his character was underwritten in season 1 and I’m so happy they expanded on it.

I wish I had more to add but you explained it so perfectly. Feel free to slide into my DMs with your thoughts anytime; this was a pleasure to read!

[heartbreakprincewille]

You know what Simon and Wilhelm deserve?

A court trial.

Against August.

I know, there are a million things that can stop them. The Royal Court and Kristina won't allow this to happen, the Crown Prince and the supposed spare to the throne in a court up against each other and that too in a case of child pornography of all things. The Hillerska administration won't let it happen, because who in their right minds would let 120-year old prestige of a school be damaged, and that too because of revenge porn? August would do anything to get himself out of this mess, he can hire best lawyers in Sweden to back himself up(one being his step-father) and he can play the game dirty all right. Simon and Wille won't be comfortable to be the front faces of an inevitably public trial, they are still minors for crying out loud. Simon's dealing of Micke's pills can come out in the open and become detrimental for him.

But that's the point. Rich people can commit literal crimes but they can get away with anything just because they have the resources to buy into the system, and the poor cannot buy into the system, they have to face the punishment.

And August commited a crime. He knowingly posted that video on the internet, he had intent to do so, it was not just a spur-of-the-moment thing. He sat with that tape for days, and when Wilhelm took a hit on August's ego, that's when he struck. He's still not guilty about the tape itself to this day, he was guilty about the consequences that will follow him, not Simon. Not Wilhelm. Not for the fact that he gave life long trauma to two kids. Not for the fact that he made their lives a literal hell. Not for the fact that they are still feeling the repercussions of that tape to this day. He's not sorry at all.

And that's why I want Simon and Wilhelm to get the justice they rightfully deserve, and August must feel the proper consequences of his actions(the legal kind, putting a gun to his head wasn't enough). And with Sara reporting August, I think there's still hope.

Because Simon and Wilhelm cannot file the case on their own, them being minors, they need adult support to file a proper court proceeding. And since Sara is a legal adult now, she can file a case on their behalf(and in a way redeem herself in Simon and everyone else's eyes).

(Although I would like to hear from the Swedes or someone who is knowledgeable in this matter that whether Wilhelm can be a part of legal proceedings or not, being a royal and all that? Is he allowed to?)

[lucidpantone]

Weakest Plot of S2: Alexander

Okay I have now watched the season completely through and through twice. This plot makes absolutely no sense so let me break down the dialogue so we can all be on the page.

[Wilhelm talking to August about his plan]

W: Why are you doing this? You can’t stand August? Alex: I know it was you who pinned the blame on me for the drugs, and after, you pretended to be my friend. You can’t fuck with me. I’m not stupid.

W.So you going to prison for something he has done.

August: I’ave spoken to my lawyers and if there is a conviction, which is highly unlikely.....(August talking about proof)....Alexander is a minor's he’ll get a mild sentence.Plus the gratitude from the Royal Court when they realize what you did for them.

[end of Alexander interchange]

AM SORRY, BUT WHAT?!?!?! So you’re telling me that after Alexander parents who are clearly wealthy East Asians who also donated a large sum of money to get the Hillerska to look the other way that Alexander is going to drag his families reputation through the mud for an Attaboy (pat on the back) from the royal court? That makes no sense.

Most of these kids are like Henry heirs to massive fortunes and industry giants. Also there is something missing here that I think only if you’re east asian you would connect and why this would never ever happen. Tiger moms and east asian shame culture is a whole ass thing. This is a deep part of their culture even if you’re a 1st gen kid. You don’t bring shame on your families name like this especially if you come from extreme wealth which Alexander clearly does. Also not to be mean but this is when you know the writers are white. No 1st gen kid of immigrants would openly take a fall for their white counterpart. ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!?!?! 

This is like the 1st thing you are taught about racial dynamics as a kid when you are the minority that your consequences will always be greater than those of your white counterparts and thats always at the back of your mind. Like sure August may get a slap on the wrist but Alexander doesn’t look like August and sorry to tell you but the research shows that kinda of thing effects people’s decision making towards convictions and punishments. Children of immigrants in predominately white countries know this and sadly its basically drilled into your brain from a young age because parents want to protect their children from racial bias. So as much as I love the writers of Young Royals this really shows their lack of understanding around something like this and why this would never ever happen. Like so an heir to an East Asian dynasty is going to VOLUNTARILY take the fall for some white boy aristocrat?!?!?! OK, IF YOU SAY SO BWAHAHAHAHA!! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD THIS HAPPEN. IMAGINE EXPLAINING THIS TO YOUR TIGER MOM!!

[fics-n-stuff]

What I want to see in a Young Royals season 2:

Wilhelm getting a goddamn break

Sara apologising to her brother and mum for all of the shit that she's pulled (I love her but she's on thin fucking ice)

August facing some fucking consequences for his shitty actions, perhaps a few punches to the face

More Felice and Wilhelm friendship

More Maddie, she was cool

Get to know more about the friends that Wilhelm had before Hillerska. (Were they normal kids like Simon and Sara? Was he particularly close to any of them?)

Addressing the mental health of the characters (Wilhelm's anxiety, August's drug addiction, I've seen people say that Felice might have some kind of eating disorder)

Wilhelm standing up to the queen, even on a small scale/minor thing

Sara redemption arc leading to a Sara x Felice romance plot

Wilhelm and Simon start a goddman revolution