#therapy young royals

[raincitygirl76]

This is SO good. Go read it!

While discussing Kris during a therapy session with Boris, Wille is presented with a question he hasn't allowed himself to consider: how would he have wanted to come out, if everything hadn't happened the way it has?

Rated G - 3900 words.

Read it now on AO3 <3

[anastasiareyreed]

these trousers have been through so much they need their own spin-off

[elnotwoods]

so the queen gets to step back because of her mental breakdown thus putting more pressure on Wille when Wille wasn’t even allowed to properly mourn the loss of his brother and adjust to his new royal title… sounds about right

[kisstheloststars]

wilhelm looking into the camera, looking so free. he did it.

[raincitygirl76]

Boris is the only adult in Wilhelm’s entire life so far who is entirely on Wilhelm’s side. He doesn’t report back to the Queen, nor does he consider her wishes more important than his duty to his patient. Boris is the only adult who treats Wilhelm like a troubled teenager first, and the crown prince of Sweden a very distant second.

Boris doesn’t give a shit about the succession crisis. All he cares about is treating his patient to the best of his ability. And the fact that his patient is the future king of Sweden doesn’t factor into Boris’s treatment plan. Yeah, Wilhelm’s situation is relevant to their sessions. But only insofar as it’s a significant source of anxiety to this patient, and a significant source of this patient feeling trapped.

Boris is the only adult in Wilhelm’s entire life who just wants him to be a happy human being, without reference to his position. And who gives precisely zero fucks about how the Queen will react to her heir’s therapist encouraging him to self-actualize.

Kristina sent Iwlhelm to therapy so he could learn to control his emotions, avoid outbursts. Instead, the therapist she picked encouraged Wilhelm to pay attention to his own emotions. To put his own happiness above his duty to the monarchy.

THIS MAN DIDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE REPERCUSSIONS, HE WAS ALL THERE FOR THE DRAMA I LOOK UP TO HIM BECAUSE SAME

A HERO

[spraypaintstainonawhitewall]

lives were changed

[swaldblues]

One of the most heartbreaking things to me this season has been how through the revelations about him participating in the cruel initiation culture, Erik has in a way died a second time for Wille 😭

[allthefakepeople]

something something

the scene between august and wille at the white party is the first time august has apologized without alterior motives. in the past he's either done it because he was worried that wille would get back at him or because he wanted to feel better about himself. this was the first time he said the words and meant them as an actual apology something something

[reidiot]

my therapist will hear about young royals s3 ep5

[alsklingwille]

i wonder if this scene has something to do with wille’s grief. wille appears to have all of his walls up and seems really angry or shut down in this scene. it could be directed at simon, but i think it’s likely and in character for him to be going through something deeper internally and unable to express that others yet. maybe it’s some kind of pressure building that he’s disappointing erik if he’s considering abdication? and maybe simon said something that hit a nerve and that’s why simon feels helpless - cause now wille’s shut him out. we’ve seen this behavior before in wille quite literally shutting his mom out of erik’s room to have a moment of missing his big brother, so it’s safe to say that’s a defense mechanism when he feels like someone doesn’t understand. and he seems to be having other moments in s3 where he’s also extremely frustrated and dysregulated, so could be a bunch of things boiling up at once.

[wilmonsfolklore]

Sunday Snippet

have been writing a little bit again so today i bring to you some good old Wille angst from my driving wip. life has not been great these past few weeks but at least i can make Wille suffer with me! yay!

Boris wrote something down on the notepad in his lap. Wille wondered quite regularly how much Aftonbladet would pay to read everything in that notepad. Maybe they’d finally leave him alone if they saw his therapist’s attempts at detangling the wires in his brain and rope in his chest.

“Wilhelm,” Boris started, in the gentle tone he used when he was telling Wille something, not asking him. “It’s important to recognise that there is no rational reason to think Simon would judge you, okay? From what you’ve told me he seems quite understanding.”

Wille opened his mouth.

“It’s important to differentiate between anxieties and rational thoughts, right?”

Wille deflated. 

“Yes,” he said. That he agreed with. “But I don’t think it’s irrational to think that he’d think it’s weird for me to get a panic attack just because I happen to be in a car.” Boris looked at him for a minute. Wille continued: “It’s not normal, you know? It’s stupid to act like it is. You shouldn’t pretend that it’s normal just to comfort me. It’s useless. I’m not dumb.”

“I don’t think you’re dumb at all, Wilhelm,” Boris said. He laid down his notepad and held up both his hands to remind Wille that he meant no harm. Wille took a sip of water. He clanked the glass against his front teeth.

[randomwilmonfan]

lol yeah the suggestion is that now that he's stepping down, he's basically... good ??? mental health-wise ?

Which makes no sense for a number of reasons:

We still have the fact that his brother died less than a year ago, *and* that he's coming to terms with new, disturbing revelations about his brother

His parents, while apparently suddenly willing to change and self-reflect, still left their 17 years' worth of damage on him

And so did the monarchy up until this point

Also, stepping back from the line of succession *does not* mean he's leaving the royal family. He's still their kid. It's not as though the monarchy is going to stop impacting him in the future

Still the revenge p**n sex tape, hello? The whole world saw him blowing his future boyfriend (and obviously that was never properly resolved when it comes to Simon's mental health, either)

... The fact that no adult, including at the school, seemed to actually CARE about this massive betrayal and sex crime? (With the exception of Linda and weirdly, sort of August's step-dad.)

Ongoing internalized homophobia, which we witnessed throughout all 3 seasons, which does not magically go away once someone is no longer Crown Price

and more, I'm sure

** Wille still needs ridiculous amounts of therapy !!!! ** And I will never get over the fact that in Season 3 he basically just... stopped going? His only therapeutic needs came in the form of reconciliation with August? And where is Simon's therapy in all of this? (Not just about the sex crime he endured but also about literally everything else, including his childhood before that point.)

This is a quick thought because I'm in the process of coming to terms with Young Royals as a whole (and it will take a while) but I really didn't like what they did to Wille's mental health.

The final conclusion is, I guess, that his Crown Prince role was too much of a burden and he needed to be freed. I.. don't think it's a well thought conclusion and it was handled badly. I'm pretty sure in s2 it was shown that mental health is resosolved by therapy and working on yourself, not running away from your problems.

Now we are scraping all of that because..? (Yeah, I know exactly why)

I like to be charmed and seduced by stories, but too much of unrealism will always pull me away from the story. Season 3 was a mess and I'm refusing to give any excuses to the thing that does not deserve that much credit.

[arianwyn-art]

Simon: my favorite coping mechanism is writing music

*august does literally anything*

Simon:

Simon: my second favorite is killing rich people-

[enjoythesilentworld]

Wille's Month - Mental Health

day 14. @youngroyals-events <3

Wille steps down. Kristina steps up.

read below the cut or on ao3 (T, 900) cw: panic attacks

“Wilhelm?” 

A voice breaks through the ringing in his ears. Who’s is it? He can’t tell, can’t really hear, but can feel a slight breeze on his face. Is he outside? No, he’s walking — nearly running — down a hallway, inside. He’s inside the palace, still. They’ve just had a meeting with the court, and it was not good, and he needs to get away. 

“Wilhelm, snälla,” the voice calls again. It’s not angry or exasperated, though, it’s almost sad. He ignores it, anyway. Too many other thoughts swirl in his brain. 

They hated him. They all hated him. He’d felt so good about his decision when he’d first made it. So relieved, so proud of himself, so excited to tell Simon. Every day after that, he’d only had fleeting moments of self-doubt. But in the end, the day he’d made that speech, he thought he’d been doing the right thing. But now, his resolve is crumbling. Would Erik hate him, too, if he knew? His mamma? She’d said she was okay with it, was happy for him, even, but now? The whole country, it seemed, had turned against him. How could his family not feel the same? When it was really them he was betraying? Their legacy he was walking away from? 

His heart beat in time with his rapid steps down the hallway. His chest feels tight, too tight, and when he brings up a hand to press there, it does nothing to alleviate it. Somewhere, in a distant part of his mind, he hears the click of a second pair of shoes following behind him. It must be Erik’s ghost, come to haunt him and ask him why couldn’t he just handle it? Why couldn’t he stop being so selfish and start being the Crown Prince he was supposed to be? 

The dozens of statistics the court had presented spin around each other in his mind like a winter squall. Cold, tiny bits of ice stab into his skin, a million tiny reminders that he’s failed them. Why couldn’t they see? Didn’t they know it would break him? That role? It had dug its claws into him already and he’d nearly lost his parents and the love of his life because of it. The rift it created, the puppet it made you, it was too much. Why didn’t they know? 

Somehow, he runs into a dead-end. He’s lived here for so long and never gotten lost, but at this moment he doesn’t know where he is. Looking for something, anything to ground him, he reaches out and places both hands against the wall and tries to breathe. Why can’t he fucking breathe?

“Gubben.” This time, the voice reaches his ears and it’s a little more clear, though slightly muted. This time, he recognizes the voice. He spins around and tries to swallow the blockage in his throat and tries to stop the tears. He hadn’t even realized he was crying. Shaking his head, he pulls at the already loose tie at his neck and tries not to let his mamma see how much he’s breaking down right now. He still can’t breathe, though, still just sucking in tiny gulps of air. In a panic, he reaches out blindly, and she is there to catch him. 

Slowly, his mamma lowers them both to the ground, her arms wrapped tightly around him. Softly, she whispers quiet encouragement into his ear, reminding him to breathe. Gently, she runs a hand through his hair over and over, soothing him just like she’d done when he was very young. 

He chokes out an, “I’m sorry,” once he’s gotten his breathing mostly under control. Big, fat tears continue to run down his face, though, and he can still hear the sound of Jan Olof’s voice explaining just how disappointed the public was. And here’s his mamma, the person he’d disappointed the most, comforting him. Guilt crawls up his throat, suffocating him again. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” she whispers into his hair. “You do not need to apologize. Just breathe, älskling, then we will talk. Okay?”  

Unable to do anything else, Wille nods and tries to calm down. She doesn’t seem angry, which is the most confusing part. She seems more worried and scared than anything. The way she holds him now reminds him of that time she’d broken down in front of him and August. He’d been terrified, then. It feels odd, now, to have the roles reversed, but the warmth of his mother’s touch is so gentle and kind it nearly makes new tears well up in his eyes. This is all he’d ever wanted from her.  

Eventually, he calms down, methodically rubbing his thumb over his mamma’s hand where it’s gripped in his. He mumbles another apology, unsure what else to say, and she gently shushes him again. 

“It doesn’t matter what those people think, Wilhelm,” she says softly. “This was the right decision for you, for us as a family.” 

“But Erik–”

“Erik,” she interrupts, placing a hand on his cheek, “is not here.”

He feels that ever-present grief inside him pulse painfully at her words, but she continues. “But I think he would have been proud of you. I am proud of you.” 

A few more tears fall from Wilhelm’s eyes as he looks up at his mother. Not the Queen, not Kristina, his mamma. 

“We will go through this together. As a family.” 

Later, they find out that Jan Olof had buried the lead. In fact, the majority of the population was in support of Wilhelm’s decision. That does lessen the panic from his bones a bit more. But even more so does the love and reassurance his parents continue to provide through the transition. He is no longer Prince, but he is still their son. 

[youngroyalsforever]

I always assumed Wilhelm had some kind of sexual experience before Simon. You cannot make me believe in existence of a sixteen-year-old prince who clubs during school year and who never been kissed. If you believe such person can exist — god bless, I have no interest in arguing about that.

But back when I did give a damn about fandom's collective opinion on things, I had a discussion about that. And the argument from the other side was: "Lisa and the intimacy coordinator SAID Wilhelm and Simon were each other's first everything!!!"

I am sorry, what? Is it a piece of media open to anyone's interpretation and are we adults who at least heard about The Death Of The Author? Or is it fucking third grade and we are supposed to give right answers otherwise the teacher will get upset with us?

And it was the latter. It is the third grade. Lisa Ambjörn is at the top of the list of people who we have to thank that for. She did A LOT to make her interpretation the only permitted interpretation out there.

[hehehereliesmysanity]

Incorrect Young Royals #23

Simon: Wow, Wille, you want to hold my hand before marriage? How awfully lewd of you. Wille: We literally slept together yesterday. Simon: That's NOTHING compared to the lewdness of holding hands.