#therapy young royals

[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

[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.

[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.

[raincitygirl76]

It shouldn’t be easy to switch from a real person to a manufactured public persona in the blink of an eye. I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I’m sure it’s probably also damaging.

Which makes me wonder about some of the hypotheses that Ivar Forsling discussed in his Permanent Rain Press interview. Was Erik’s death indeed a simple matter of losing control of a Ferrari in poor road conditions?

Or was he self-medicating the stress of being crown prince with alcohol, and drunk behind the wheel? Remember his last video call with Wilhelm, the day before the accident? He was drinking hard liquor at lunch time. Suggesting some unhealthy coping mechanisms. Kristina could’ve easily buried toxicology reports.

Or worse, did the stress of having to wear this public persona that was nothing like the real Erik cause him so much stress that he took his own life? As far as we know it was a single car accident, and statistically speaking, those are far more likely to be suicides than multi-vehicle accidents. And again, Kristina could’ve covered it up quite easily.

I doubt we’ll ever get a straight answer but it’s interesting to speculate.

There’s also a really good fic by @groenendaelfic which explores the idea that Erik’s death wasn’t an accident. It’s called “Perfect”.

Erik said it's not that hard to be in a role in front of people.

Then there is a knock to the door and he just...

You CAN actually see how he just changes in a blink of an eye. Like he's doing something inside himself with the emotions. Then he straighten then *poof*

It's kinda scary you know.

[books-books-smolderinglooks]

“We can’t choose who we’re born as, but we can choose how we want to live..” 💜🧡

[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. 

[raincitygirl76]

I would argue that the purely practical aspects were a little worse for Simon, on two counts. #1. He didn’t have police protection officers to chase away tabloid journalists and just generally nosy strangers. #2. And he wasn’t able to deny that he was in the video. So yes, Wilhelm abandoned Simon (under extreme duress from Kristina), and thus they each had to face the aftermath alone. Which sucked, but it also sucked because, separated as they were, Simon had no opportunity to realize Wille was also still deeply traumatized. Because they were both working through the trauma separately.

The violation happened to BOTH of them. Both their families were affected. They both had to carry on with daily life surrounded by classmates and teachers who knew damn well Wilhelm’s denial was a lie. Everybody they had to interact with at school each day had seen them both naked and vulnerable during a moment that should’ve been private. They were both subject to major gossip and innuendo.

They both had to wonder which of their classmates had surreptitiously filmed them in an intimate moment and then leaked it all over the internet. And then later Wilhelm knew exactly who it was, had to face him every day, and had to live with the knowledge that his mother protected his second cousin who posted revenge porn over her son, the victim of August’s revenge porn.

Neither of them got proper adult support, either. Yes, Wilhelm eventually got counselling, but he didn’t get it because of the video. Kristina didn’t make him see a psychologist until he had a tantrum on speakerphone and threatened to abdicate. The video aftermath was not top of mind for her. Wanting him to control his angry outbursts was.

Simon didn’t get counselling at all. That said, there are often long waiting lists to see psychologists and counsellors for free in the public system, and Linda couldn’t have afforded to send him private and pay out of pocket. Nonetheless, the fact that Hillerska had Boris the school psychologist on staff and didn’t make his services available to Simon free of charge is sheer bloody negligence.

The violation took place at their school. Hillerska had a duty of care to keep their students safe, and they failed. Then they failed again, by not offering the victimized students (Simon only at the time, since Wille was madly pretending he wasn’t a victim) psychological support to work through the violation.

But yes @heartbreakprincewille is absolutely right. They were both violated, and in 2.06 Simon saw how badly it had affected Wille too. The statement he made under duress shielded Wilhelm from a few of the practical consequences of the video, but not from the majority of the consequences.

Great tags from @retrieve-the-kraken, @gulliblelemon and @helsteeth

And more tags from @capricious-soldes

I was watching the scene where Wille points the gun at August and it's such a brilliant scene for many reasons but the one that hit me the most is that Simon got to see the degree to which Wille was affected by the video.

In the Music Room fight that went down between them in the last episode, Simon basically says that Wille had it easy in terms of facing the repercussions of the video as compared to Simon. And Wille is rightfully offended because Simon fails to understand that just because the manner in which they both suffered was different, it doesn't mean that the suffering itself was any less for Wilhelm.

Like, when Wilhelm points the gun at August, the anger that flashes on his face is not some sort of a "quarrel" between the Royals, it's Wilhelm's pain resurfacing in the form of sheer anger, all the sleepless nights and tears bubbling and making their way into his voice. It's so evident in that scene, how Wilhelm was deeply affected by everything that went down and now that Simon had a chance to bring some justice to both of them, August snooped in and took that chance away from them. Like, Simon must have finally understood that the game is not rigged just for him, but Wilhelm is as much of a victim as Simon is. That Wilhelm's hurt ran so deep that he was ready to blow off his own cousin's head. And it could be one of the realizations that helped Simon understand that it's not him vs Wille, they both were equally devastated by August's actions and even more so, Wille's loyalty will always lie with what's right, and with Simon.

[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.

[wings-of-a-storm]

There is a stand-out scene in Young Royals S2 that I actually actively never try to re-watch because the pain in it absolutely guts me. But I'm going to be brave and talk about it and let out all the feels because as much as it chokes me up, it is an absolute masterpiece in motion and I want to pay my respects to it (for effing me up this bad haha).

That scene is (unsurprisingly) when Wille cries as he watches himself dress up as a nobleman/prince for the ball.

(^genuinely can’t face putting the crying face in this post)

My goodness, that scene was so well done.

It's such brilliant storytelling that the (quietly brutal) quiet moment of Wille confronting himself in the mirror is surrounded on either side by images and sounds of all the other students having the time of their lives and really getting into the theme because dress up is supposed to be fun, right?

But the point of dressing up is that it is a fun escapism, right? You get to take on a different persona for a brief time, be whomever you want (there's so much freedom in that choice), and you get to be creative with it. It is a novelty. And then once that brief, fun period is over, you take the outfit off and just go back to 'normal' life.

But for Wille, he doesn't get to do that (not really, at least). He is a prince no matter what era clothing he dons and discards. Dressing up for the ball is not escapism for him, it's prison.

Wille's actual escapism happens every day of his life when he gets to wear a uniform like everyone else at school (or before that, going to 'normal' public schools). So if Wille's 'dress up' escapism is essentially his every day life, in this ball scene, he has to do the opposite of everyone and discard his costume of everyday clothing to put on his reality. And boy is the pain of that a kick in the guts when he is the one secretly crying in a room as he sees himself in the mirror while everyone else is bursting with joyful energy and make-believe.

That scene is like a visual bubble of grief; it really emphasises how alone he is. No one else has his status and all that comes with it; no one else can actually understand how it feels. That's the sorrowful fate of being a prince who doesn't want to be a prince (and who has lost his brother, the one person who did know what it felt like). Not even us viewers who love him and want the best for him can truly understand what he is feeling; the best we can do is empathise with his desolate loneliness. (Look at me talking like he is a real person. Shh!)

And then there is the whole applying makeup element to it all as well! The point of makeup in general is to conceal and transform, right? Conceal the natural face and transform it into a desired illusion? I know painting your face white was the fashion the students are trying to replicate at the ball but it sure hurts knowing that in Wille's case, there is also the metaphorical layer of him concealing his pain behind a white mask and transforming himself into the image everyone expects of him. But watching him do it, it is like he is lowering himself onto a sword; like it is destroying crucial parts of himself to do it.

And that is not fun and games for a night out at a ball. Not at all.

*Screams into the universe* It is such a brutallllll scene. (And yes, shout-out to Edvin for making it even more brutal with his description of it on twitter.)

Seriously though, you know when a tragedy occurs and part of you gets frozen in time? Like you can forever recall where you were and what you were thinking at the time? Well, this scene hit me like that (melodramatic maybe but true!). I remember seeing Wille looking into that mirror and my mind started screaming: "NO, NO, NO, STOP THIS SCENE, IT'S TOO MUCH! I know everyone is having the time of their lives but this isn't FUN for Wille! This is his reality! This isn't dress up that he can just discard after the party! Why are you making him dress up like that! Can't you see how cruel that is?!"

But hey, as much as it aches (or maybe because of how much it aches xD) I do love that they worked that wardrobe choice into the show though -- of Wille dressed in the image of an old-school prince while interacting with Simon, the uniform-wearing everyday man and his equally common/wait staff-esque suited boyfling. It is a tad in your face but it is marvellous at showing the reality of Wille's status and how alone he is in it. Sigh. I hate love this show.