#the beginnings of a malin redemption arc

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 3, Episode 3

Episode 3 picks up the day after the camping trip, and Wilhelm calls his mom to check on her. She dumps a massive guilt trip on him, maybe unintentionally, and Wilhelm is feeling a little bit down.

Culture: These are Swedish studentmössor. They originated in the 1800's among Nordic university students and they wore them as a common marker. Later, they were adopted as graduation caps for high school students, signifying that they were now allowed to begin studying at a university.

Culture: Valborg, April 30th, is a traditional Swedish holiday where you celebrate the coming of spring with bonfires. It is also the start of graduation season for high school students, and graduates are allowed to start wearing their caps.

Cinematography: This season they started writing most on-screen social media commentary in English, despite those users being pretty obviously Swedish. I suspect it's because it saves them having to subtitle all of them, it makes it a bit easier for all the viewers to follow along.

Subtext: No, keeping up appearances is more important than mental health for the royal family, which is why this is new behaviour that Wilhelm has never seen before.

Subtext: As a reminder of the increased interest, here's a paparazzi intruding on school grounds. Also, where the hell is Malin? Isn't it her job to shoo away photographers?

Culture: Vintern Rasat is a classic Swedish song celebrating spring that's often performed by student singers at Valborg.

Subtext: Boris cleverly offers August individual therapy, something he sorely needs.

Subtext: It's of course a bit ironic that pretty much the entire fandom hates August and has decided that he can't be forgiven or redeemed. Yes, you, dear reader. But Boris lays out a way for August to start his redemption arc. Will it work? Tune in for next week's episode!

Culture: These usernames reek of white supremacy. Norse mythology references are very popular, and 88 means H*il H*tler, so that's the kind of people we're dealing with. The show is also foreshadowing what's gonna happen at the end of the episode.

Blink and you miss it: Linda made Pabellón, a Venezuelan dish. In season 1 we didn't know where Linda was from, but in season 2 she was canonically made as being from Venezuela, just like Omar is in real life.

Subtext: I think August actually cares, Kristina is family to him too, but Wilhelm refuses to treat him as family, so he lies about how she's doing. Not very convincingly, though.

Cinematography: This is an absolutely hilarious shot with a bunch of students anxiously peering out through the windows as the dreaded enemy arrives: Skolinspektionen! Dun-dun-dun!

Blink and you miss it: There's a rainbow flag on the board to the left.

Subtext: Vanessa totally knew she interrupted a makeout session between our boys. Oh, and there's a lot of purple in these two scenes, colour theory exploded with joy.

Subtext: Simon will be proven wrong, someone will be honest.

Subtext: It's also ironic that Simon joins the rest of the Forest Ridge boys pretending to have a great meal together that is totally not stiff and awkward at all, absolutely not.

Lost in translation: Simon Walter says that May 1st is a "röd dag" - a red day, which is how Sundays and public holidays are usually marked in a Swedish calendar. "Bank holiday" is the term used in the UK for public holidays. There are 13 public holidays in Sweden each year.

Culture: Första Maj is the name of the International Workers' Day in Sweden, because it always occurs on May 1st. In defence of Henry and Walter's shared braincell, most Swedes actually don't participate, but it's a bit weird to not even know what it is.

Subtext: This entire sequence shows how Felice's dad tried to stick up for himself, but quickly learned to keep his head down instead and conform and roll with it. And it wasn't just the other students who were racists, the staff was in on it too. This goes for all the shit the students are doing, the partying, the booze, the alcohol, the bullying: The staff is in on it. They know. They're complicit.

And despite all of this, Poppe's immediate answer when asked how his time at Hillerska was, is that it was the best time of his life. This is why schools like this stay the way they are, why they never change, because they're very good and very bad at the same time. Trauma-bonding works, the kids will all get friends for life, they'll forget the shit and remember the good times. They'll become like him.

But when Felice learns what the school did to her dad, she decides to help shut it down, to stop the cycle of abuse. The reason she goes in alone is because she now knows she can't trust her dad, he's gonna defend the school, and she also doesn't want him to know that she snitched.

Subtext: In official surveys, students from schools like this generally rate them very highly. Student satisfaction is very high. Maybe they're lying, maybe they're delusional, but they sure care more about their schools than public school students.

Blink and you miss it: REAL SUBTLE THERE, SHOW.

Subtext: Keeping with the school theme, this is how students defend the shit that goes on. Outsiders are kept in the dark, you don't tell them anything, because they "wouldn't understand", they're missing the "full context", etc. Oh, I don't know shit about fashion, but Fredrika's jacket smells very expensive.

Blink and you miss it: While Wilhelm pinned a polaroid of himself and Simon prominently on his wall, August keeps a similar polaroid of himself and Sara hidden.

Subtext: Micke's redemption arc is in full swing, so why not play a song that reinforces the idea that people can change?

Subtext: August's redemption arc is in full swing, so let's cut to him nervously waiting outside Micke's place for Sara to come home, while the same song is playing. Is he gonna be a villain forever?

Blink and you miss it: Micke introduces himself as Micke af Eriksson when August introduces himself as August Horn af Årnäs. The English subtitles for some weird reason went with "Micke Eriksson of Bjärstad", but that's actually not what he says.

Subtext: Sara is pretty realistic about her expectations of her dad because she's seen this before, but this also applies to her expectations of August, because she knows that he can also slide back into his normal shitty self. Also, she's wearing a purple sweater.

Subtext: In case you forgot, August's dad also struggled with addiction, and died from it, so he and Sara actually has that in common. Maybe there's hope for this redemption arc thing?

Cinematography: I don't fucking know why they included this baking scene. It serves no purpose, and I suspect quite a few people in the production have a serious hand fetish, because what is this? What is this? Also, why are Simon and Wilhelm joining what appears to be a Manor House thing with the rest of the girls? How? Why? This makes no sense! It's very cute, though!

Subtext: Oh ok, we got a social media pic that Sara could see and feel bad for her lost friendships. But man, those Hillerska aprons! On point!

Subtext: This is unfortunately a very common thing for people on any kind of psychoactive medication. How can you tell if you need medication if you feel good right now? Is it lasting or temporary? Can you trust your own brain? Either way, fantastic conversation between Micke and Sara, which starts her on her journey to reconcile with Felice at least.

🎵 I can change, I'm not the same, not forever. 🎵

Culture: The official hat-on-putting ceremony where all the third-year students put on their hats, set to another traditional Swedish spring celebration song: Vårvindar Friska.

Culture: It's Valborg, so Hillerska has their own little bonfire. We saw some students with torches pretending to light it, but it's actually floating in the middle of the fountain so, uh, how did they do that? Normally, your local bonfire or Majbrasa is just a huge heap of wood that you set on fire.

Cinematography: Man, this is a pretty show. Look at that shot. The fire, the sunset, the pool reflection. The end of April is over a month after the spring equinox, so the days are getting longer, and the sun now sets at about half past nine in the evenings.

Subtext: Ok, let's do one more on-the-nose lyrics thing for when August sees Sara back at school. Yes, yes, he needs her.

Culture: I had to post about it immediately after watching the episode, because setting a sex scene to Uti Vår Hage is hilarious. Everyone in Sweden knows it, most people have sung it at school, it's a cute little song about enjoying your garden, flowers, and giving your loved one a wreath of flowers. I can now never hear this song without thinking about this scene. Thanks a lot, show.

Blink and you miss it: Simon fucks Wilhelm. Yay! Versatile supremacy!

Subtext: Sara is still so suspicious of her dad's behaviour, she can't make herself trust that his current good period will last.

Subtext: Even though this dialogue is about how Simon and Sara are so different, it of course also applies to how Wilhelm and Erik were different, because Wilhelm struggles with not being able to handle his duty the same way Erik could.

Culture: Alright, it's time for the actual local Första Maj event in Bjärstad. The town is probably a bit small to have a proper demonstration parade, but there's people with banners and socialist slogans, and a bunch of local organisations have joined in, including Bjärstad BK, the football club Rosh plays in.

Culture: Meanwhile, the absolutely not socialist rich kids at Hillerska are nursing their hangovers and enjoying the day off, and they're doing some yoga and playing some padel instead. As you do.

Subtext: Drugs. He looks like he's selling drugs.

Culture: These apparently confused a bunch of viewers, but they're just raffle tickets. It's one hundred numbered, rolled up, paper tickets stuck on a metal ring. When you buy a ticket you just tear it off at the perforation, and when all tickets are sold you can just break the seal on the ring and pour all the stubs in a bag or whatever so you can draw winners.

Blink and you miss it: Cute kiddo has a pride pin on his jacket.

Lost in translation: The show waited a bit with showing what it says on the banner behind them in the photo, but if you can read Swedish you immediately saw that it says KROSSA ÖVERKLASSEN - CRUSH THE UPPER CLASSES. Oh no, Simon, what have you done?

Blink and you miss it: Like a pack of rabid wolves, the social-media starved Gen Z kids rush to their phones for an hour of glorious feeding on Instagram and TikTok.

Blink and you miss it: I love Vincent so much, he's terrible, but he's just so much fun! The little fist he makes as he says "kampen" just seals it.

Subtext: The show still hasn't revealed the banner text to the non-Swedish audience, but Wilhelm immediately sees it and knows how bad it is and why Farima tried calling him seven times. Also, Vincent is just on a roll here.

Cinematography: Man, this is a pretty show. Look at that shot. Look at how they perfectly aligned the hole in the window with Simon, the police car, and the entrance to their house, as he discovers that someone decided to vandalize it.

[goldenn-moments]

things I need in young royals s3:

• "I love you" "I love you too"

• MORE👏🏼GOLDEN👏🏼MOMENTS👏🏼

• wille in the eriksson house, at home and at ease w at least simon and linda (maybe even Malin included??👀👀)

• simon in the palace, learning the crooks and crannies of the spots of the castle that wille found comfort in as a child (plus an awkward dinner w the in laws, hopefully followed by a royal bedroom scene, if yknow what I mean)

• rosh and ayub seeing wille again and simon being like "guys he's it for me" and the whole reconciliation that I'm sure will have to happen etc etc

• maddie becoming friends w simon and henry and walter being friendlier to simon, including him more - BASICALLY people at hillerska actually valuing simon for once, omfgs

• on the note of hillerska people, felice and simon teaming up to tease wille AT LEAST once. at least. they have so much material it would literally be criminal for them to not tease wille until he's giggling and red in the face

• more hand holding (so much. an obscene amount, actually)

• as edvin said, wille and simon smiling together

• sara redemption, but I kinda want that to be left open ended bc I doubt simon will forgive her all that easily (he will, inevitably. it's who he is. but he's put her first so many times, I want him to pit himself first for once)

• SIMON FINALLY ALLOWING SOMEONE (aka wille) TO FULLY COMFORT HIM AS HE BREAKS DOWN (I just want my boy to have a nice cry and then get all the hugs from wille)

• wille and simon being together in public and not giving a fuck (I mean, obvi they'll care abt being in the public eye. but they won't have to hide, and they'll revel in that, and that's what matters)

• STELLA AND FREDRIKA CONFESSION SCENE + DRAMATIC KISS

• on that note, also wilmon dramatic kiss (in the rain, after something intense happened, or when they're just horny as fuck I DONT CARE. just give me intense wilmon kisses I can use for edits please and thank)

• more exploration into simons family life (which I think we'll get w the sara arc, however they take it), like giving linda more screen time and bc they're probably gonna bring micke back, someone defending simon from micke if he needs it

• wille telling simon abt erik (and maybe even flashbacks??)

• august getting what's fucking coming to him

• wille AND simon breaking the fourth wall (preferably in the beginning of the first ep, bc I kinda want it to end w them walking away from us. but I'd be so down for the series ending w them both smiling at us)

• a look into how the public is reacting - ngl I wanna see the social media comments, the articles, their friends dissing those who are slandering them and at the same time showing them all the public support (I know) they're getting

• far fetched, but maybe a scene where wille and simon are having a Moment (maybe with simon in the palace👀👀) and krissy accidentally sees it and starts to finally fucking understand that taking simon away/denying him is taking away/denying her only remaining son's happiness (I imagine this taking place after an awkward dinner w the in laws)

• a celebration/party scene where wilmon are together and don't have to stare at each other from across a room or hide somewhere in order to be together

• wille defending simon (against their fellow hillerska students, the royal court, hell even micke, idc)

• simon defending wille (against someone from bjärstad who's making assumptions, krissy, the royal court, any of those idc)

-- basically the boys fighting for each other always

• THEM👏🏼AGAINST👏🏼THE👏🏼WORLD👏🏼

• more protective wille bc wille while he's being Crown Prince Wilhelm??? godDAMN

• simon and wille happy under the sun

• kinda related, maybe simon looking like he has a halo through some trick of the light??? paralleling to his glowstick halo in s1???

• wille panicking and simon being there (wille no longer having to be alone when the world gets too much) (do not enter is written on the doorway, why can't everyone just go away? except you - you can stay)

• wille and simon goofing around and being silly, maybe like trying to cook or trying to study or trying to actually play a video game and constantly getting distracted by each other

• simon getting his daily dose of wille's scent, lmao

• SIMON AND WILLE DANCING. dancing alone in one of their rooms, giggling and tripping on each other and swaying back and forth, wille humming a song he wants simon to sing and simon giggling and singing for him. the kind of dance that isn't for anyone but themselves, where they're wrapped around each other and blissfully in love, unable to stop smiling as they twirl each other around (I also wouldn't say no to a formal dance, like a waltz, where they're dancing together in a ballroom or some shit but the whole world melts away until it's just them. or a party scene where they're w all their classmates but they only have eyes for each other. those would be nice too)

• casual touch. so much casual touch. casually holding hands while walking, one of them resting their chin on the other's shoulder as they talk to friends, an arm around the others waist as they stand, sitting in each other's laps while working in a public space, one laying their head in the other's lap, leaning against each other as other things are happening around them. just - wille and simon being casually physically affectionate and always having each other to lean on, in all ways (and ofc, them always being wrapped up around each other. I'm sure wille's need to be close to simon will help me get this)

• henry continuing his curse of being a cockblock (and someone calling him out on it, lmaoo)

• boris. I want more of boris. give me a whole episode w just boris talking to wille and simon, idc, he's amazing and I adore him

• also more of the choir teacher!!! she believes in simon and I want to see her support him more

• simon singing more and flourishing even more in that area (and wille being a love struck fool every time simon sings even one note)

• MORE THAN SIX EPISODES PLEASE AND THANK YOU

• simon and wille getting invited to a girls night

• simon!!! in!!! makeup!!!! (yes, I'm aware this will likely kill wille. both wille and I are prepared to make that sacrifice if it means seeing simon in at least some eyeliner)

• simon and wille pissing of jan-olof and getting the last laugh

• actually, I wanna see jan-olof just croak. just let him die. it's what he deserves😌

• wille and simon having a good support system

• wille's album for simon growing and being able to see the album that I KNOW simon has of wille on his phone

• wille getting his sweater back and teasing simon abt it

• in general, many pretty, cinematic shots of simon and wille just generally being in love

• random, but what happens to my boy rousseau, who didn't deserve all this drama when he's just a horse who wants to eat hay and run free😔

• simon and wille being regular teenagers and being a little stupid around each other hut that's okay bc they're in love

• a parallel to their first meeting, with simon speaking up abt a social issue that these rich kids have no real idea abt, but this time wille chimes in and adds his thoughts and simon just beams at him, and wille can't help but grin bc he's finally saying what he wants to say, tradition be damned

• kinda random but simon interacting w a kid and wille, despite not liking kids all that much, just melting (I will accept simon being cute in general in substitute)

• oh, so out of left field but more of simon's extended family??? like I saw a post on here abt what linda was saying on the phone in the background of one scene, and like she was talking abt a get together??? idk man, I just want simon talking more spanish

• to go off of that, simon teasing wille and spanish and one of two things happening: 1) wille combusts and dies bc simon is killing him w that, or 2) wille surprising simon and speaking back in spanish bc he had to learn it bc he's a royal and simon combusting instead. I would like either variation please and thank

• linda being wille's mom. ik she's not perfect but I just read a fic where he called linda mama and she hugged him and he said "I love you mama" and I kinda want something like that in canon now, ngl

• OH, on the note of linda - her realizing the pressure simon takes upon himself and trying to lighten his burden bc he's her child and should be carrying it all

• wille picking up simon. we know he can do it. so let him, let him pick up his boy whenever he feels like it

• wille and simon playing with each other's hair PLEASE

• I saw a post say that simon should take up fencing to get that extra credit, and now I NEED simon w any kinda sword. please. omar, do a photoshoot or smth, I'm not above begging

• more power walks from simon and wille

• simon and wille being a power couple in general (I'm thinking twin judgemental stares as they stand w each other, glaring and backing each other up, a team in every way possible)

• just,,,, them. against the world. no matter what comes their way

thank you so so much to @mirabel-on-a-bicycle @darktwistedgenderplural @tagalongifyoudare and @retrieve-the-kraken for encouraging me to post this <3 yall are amazing

[hillerskaroyals]

i know we’ve gone through a rollercoaster of emotions about malin after snow globe gate but when wille asks her to take him to simon’s she says “Hi Wilhelm” not “kronprins” or some other variation of his title. outside of boris i think she’s the only authority figure to refer to wille by name

[fics-n-stuff]

Young Royals x Red, White and Royal Blue Crossover Headcannons (mild spoilers for both ahead!!):

To preface, in this universe Simon and Wilhelm get the same kind of happy ending as Alex and Henry because it's wHAT THEY DESERVE GODDAMMIT!!!

The first time Wilmon meets Firstprince is at a charity gala that Wilhelm brings Simon to. Henry and Wilhelm had met before, both being members of European royal families, but their new and very unique common ground lends itself to the beginnings of a friendship. Wilhelm likes Alex, Henry likes Simon, but something between Alex and Simon does not mesh at first

Nevertheless, a photograph of the four of them together goes completely viral, with millions of people gushing over how Alex and Henry are taking Simon and Wilhelm under their wing

Cash, Amy, Zahra, Shaan and Malin are a fuckin SQUAD. A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!!

Name me a better girl group than June, Nora, Felice, Sara, Bea and Maddie. I'll fucking wait.

The RW&RB squad all offer to punch August in the face. Alex and Pez both legitimately try to do so on two separate occasions

Linda absolutely ADORES Alex and June when she meets them, and they adore her back. Every time they see each other it's all hugs and smiles and conversations in incredibly fast Spanish

Linda and Ellen are on some kind of wavelength. Nobody understands it, but somehow those two are always on the same page. Maybe it's some kind of "fantastic mother to a queer son embroiled in an (inter)national scandal" thing?

Similarly, Linda and Catherine become something rather similar to best friends (as much as they can be when one is the heir to the English throne). After the years that she spent emotionally absent from her children's lives, she's grateful for the support in the mothering department that Linda provides. They talk a lot about just how much they love their kids

Linda and Oscar get along like siblings, and treat each other's children like niece and nephews. They made a group chat with their kids that actually gets a surprising amount of use

Catherine gives Kristina more than a few pointers on how to be a mum while also being a monarch. Though she admits that she herself hasn't been perfect, at least she knows how to show her kids affection

(Throwing this in for myself because I want a Micke redemption arc but) Micke takes a lot of advice from the other parents on how to be a better dad, and a few important lectures from Bea about addiction and sobriety

During one visit, for a charity event that Henry put together with Pez and invited Wilhelm to, they stay in an adjoining suite at the hotel. Up until this point Alex and Simon had been rather icy, but late at night, when both Wilhelm and Henry had dosed off, they lie on the floor of one of the rooms speaking in hushed Spanish just telling each other everything they love about their respective princes

After a while they start being comfortable enough to crack jokes about each other's scandals. Simon or Wilhelm will quote a line from one of the leaked emails, and Alex or Henry will reply with a snide comment about the sex tape

In his free time, Simon dives into helping Henry and Bea with their charities, both causes being close to his heart. Wilhelm loves seeing how passionate he gets

Wilhelm himself likes to get involved too, as much as he can considering he's a Crown Prince. He makes a lot of appearances for Henry's foundation

Alex feels left out that he's the only one of the four of them that can't play piano, though he does get a kick out of the fact that Simon is still learning to read sheet music

Simon and Bea love playing music and singing together. He appears on stage with her at a couple of her charity concerts

When Simon or Wilhelm is struggling with homework, they have a number of people they can ask for help. June, Nora and Henry never fail to provide some assistance

Since monarchs can't exactly attend pride parades, one year for Stockholm pride the whole RW&RB squad fly over and they have a pride party instead. The pictures that get posted, while carefully selected and approved by the many PR teams involved, circulate the media at breakneck speeds