#wilhelm had to tell him

[smartsxylacyy]

[mirabel-on-a-bicycle]

Watching Wille having to constantly call Simon, the boy whose singing he'd loved so much, whose voice had been the light of his life since the moment he saw him, and struggle to form the right words to tell that him he couldn't do that anymore?? for his sake?? Him scoffing at "everything he does represents you and the royal house" before ending up repeating the exact same lines to Simon???

Watching him feel the disappointment in himself as he tried to reassure Simon that the photos were cute, that his singing was beautiful, before inevitably passing on his own restrictions to him??? That was a different kind of pain. 🙂👍🏼

[onlyangel-supremacy]

YOUNG ROYALS SEASON 2 SPOILERS

OH MY GOD

*fish tank*

marcus: i didn’t know you had pets

marcus: what do you call them?

simon: they don’t haVE NAMES

THE WAY I SCREAMEDDDD OH MY FUCK

[randomnameless]

Something stupid for the 1st april :

After reading some classical piece of litterature, Seteth catches Flayn asking Rhea what "breasting boobily" means.

He is sure this is a prank they came up to make him lose his temper, but he will not fall this time, he caught the prank.

Rhea doesn't know herself what "breasting boobily" means, but she remembers having read this sentence once, maybe it's a new way of walking down the stairs humans invented? She would have a better chance asking Professor Manuela.

Not wanting to appear out of the loop and actually wishing to keep up with modern slang - because even she doesn't know what this thing means - Manu nervously laughs, and tells Flayn this is a slang someone more familiar with Enbarr than she is, since she has been working here for the last few years, might help her with.

She can ask Doro!

Not deterred in the least (finally a chance to catch up with how modern young people talk!), Flayn rushes to Doro, who was attending Supreme Leader's opening speech for the Adrestian Empire's Founding Day.

Just when she was finishing the part of Adrestia's glorious history and Emperor Wilhelm's War of Heroes that ended on the unification of the Continent - Flayn bursted out and asked very excitedly "Dorothea, since you are more attuned to Modern Adrestian language and Enbarr's customs, what "breasting boobily" means?".

Dorothea wanted to explain how this most likely refered to a way of walking that emphasies the chest area used to seduce people, but Supreme Leader glared at them so hard that she wondered if they did anything wrong, it's not like Eddie was actually expecting them to listen to her speech, right?

Cue Caspar trying to "walk boobily or something" but finding the ordeal very tedious, how are people supposed to walk like that? How can they even hold an axe like that?

"It's not fit for battle, it's used for seduction!"

"Why would you seduce people on a battlefield?"

Linhardt was the only one with enough common sense to tell them to stop ignoring their class leader, because she seems really infuriated that they interrupted her speech on Adrestia was Great or something, for the Foundation Day.

"Oh, if you want, Rhea is both- I mean, the Archbishop is hosting a festival in the mess hall for the Foundation Day, telling everyone who wants to listen how Emperor Wilhelm is the only Great Emperor in Adrestia's History, and she is handing out sweets and drinks to people who want to participate or just hang out while some children from the Monastery are playing around."

Lured by baked cookies and refreshments, the Black Eagles ditch their classroom, to Hubert's disarray.

Munching on a bunch of sweets - Hubert assured her were not made by the Archbishop herself - Supreme Leader rants about how those beasts obviously planned to humiliate her in front of her friends, and manipulate once again unaware fools with sugar, as they teach them a fake history to control the world, and they will just have to wait 10 months, she will become Emperor and put her stupid ancestor's legacy to shame by becoming The Greatest Emperor of Adrestia.

"Of course, my lady."

"What does Breasting Boobily even mean Hubert? Search for an answer, and fast! I refuse to let those things know more about humanity than I do!"

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

Honestly, Randall should've expected this; that Emily would want to help him-it was that big, beautiful heart of hers hard at work again, wanting to make his life a little easier where she could, especially given how packed his proverbial plate was (which, given how many projects Minnie was heaping on him with the wedding approaching fast, was very). As such, Randall smiled to his bride-to-be and thanked her with a kiss to her cheek, and so he got to work.

Needless to say, having a second set of hands on deck made the work go a lot smoother, to say nothing of having somebody to talk to while they packed-honestly, telling Emily about some of the items found in the cedar chest, their histories, and the memories attached to them made the melancholy that came with the notion of moving a little less heavy.

"...that's, uh, that's my ma's parents, August and Josephine Burke," he said shyly; one of the albums had opened up when he'd dropped it, and so he took a moment to show her some of the pictures within (hoping a little that he hadn't already shown her them in the future-though he supposed the trip down might not completely hurt Emily's feelings). "A-And these are my pa's parents, Cillian and Siobhan Pace, a-and my pa's brothers, Colin and Callahan."

[themarsbar]

Let me tell you how - as clumsy and awkward as it was - Wille's first conversation with Simon went like it was specifically designed to make Simon fall for him. Like straight to the heart and deadly. Non-survivable event.

Simon is eating alone, no-one's sitting next to him to his right, to his left and in front of him, like people are at best not acknowledging him and at worst actively avoiding him, which they probably are. Wille comes in, sees him and purposefully seeks him out. He wants to sit close to him and talk to him. This is new to Simon and not at all something he'd have expected from "Ers Majestät".

W: "[you don't belong with Forest Ridge] but you're eating with us?" S: "We non-residents have to eat somewhere". Oh, you know Simon was just waiting to sink his teeth into Wille (metaphorically ...for now) and he savors Wille's faux-pas. You can just tell how much he enjoys delivering that comeback.

Wille's counterattack? Deadly. He introduces himself. He's like "I haven't introduced myself, I'm Wilhelm." He's humble, he doesn't assume people know him just because he's a member of the royal family and had a whole welcome party organized just for him like, yesterday. He's just a newcomer and his name is Wilhelm.

"I liked what you said in there, Simon." Simon had the whole class against him right then, teacher included, but Wille appreciates his opinion, he likes that Simon spoke up, even and especially against him. Bonus point, he adds Simon's name at the end of the compliment, because it matters. See, we know Wille was being sincere but Simon regains his footing here because this could potentially sound like a dig, and he's prepared for those so he remarks along the lines of "Oh yeah? So why didn't you say anything?", which brings us to:

"I'm not allowed to talk politics." And it's the way Wille says this, hesitantly, like he's painfully aware of the hypocrisy and he's ashamed of it. It rearranges Simon's view of him because it seems like Wille knows he's part of a bullshit establishment and he's not blissfully partaking of its privileges with no awareness or care. Wille is very much not like Simon had imagined he would be.

And then! Wille goes to leave and he almost drops his fork. Final dart, straight to the heart, Simon's fate is sealed: this guy's goofy.

And that, my friends, is how you go from Simon's mortal enemy to Simon's crush in the span of less than 2 minutes.

[velisle]

The Meaning Of Villains' Names (ft Vogel)

Inspired by the post @.cherryisagamer made for Ikemen Prince here

Take most of these with a grain of salt, because of Cybird's weird naming tendancy as well as how names are in most cases are perceived in various ways by everyone. Also included extra information because I'm a silly little nerd.

Name: William Rex

Meaning:

“William” meaning “resolute protection/protector”

“Rex” meaning “king”

William is actually German in origin. It derives from the Germanic Wilhelm, whose roots wil (“will, desire”) and helm (“helmet, protection”) combine to mean “resolute protector”

Name: Liam Evans

Meaning:

“Liam” is the Irish short form of “William”, therefore same meaning as him

“Evans” meaning “the Lord is gracious”

Evans is a boy’s name of Welsh origin. An Anglicized form of Ifan, which stems from the Hebrew John, it translates to “graced by Yahweh” or “God is gracious.”

Name: Harrison Gray (I had to go check if his last name was with an e or a)

Meaning:

"Harrison" meaning “son of Harry”

“Gray” meaning... it's literally for the colour. Funny how game uses the US spelling for it

Name: Elbert Greetia

Meaning:

“Elbert”, a variation of Albert, meaning “noble; bright”

“Greetia”... I couldn't find any info about it. It's made up I presume.

This masculine name has Old English and German roots, coming from the name Albert. Translating to “bright,” “noble,” or “famous.”

Name: Alfons Sylvatica

Meaning:

“Alfons” (there are many variants btw) meaning “noble; ready; brave”

“Sylvatica” comes from the scientific name for forget-me-nots, “Myosotis sylvatica”

Alphons is a masculine name of German origin. Composed of apalaz and funsaz, it means “ready for battle,” “noble,” and “brave.” This sweet moniker is thought to be ultimately derived from the Latin Alphonsus and boasts a wide variety of variants, such as Alfonso, Alfonzo, and Alphonso.

Name: Roger Barel

Meaning:

“Roger” meaning “famous warrior”

“Barel”... I couldn't find reliable sources. Or maybe it does have an obscure meaning.

This name is forged from the German elements hrod and ger, imbuing it with the striking translation of "famous spearman."

Name: Jude Jazza

Meaning:

“Jude” meaning “praised” and praised is he in the jp server

“Jazza”... I think saw a post here saying how it's a form of Jeremy? But I can't find it now. There's something similar in Arabic I found however, “Jaza” (pronounced differently, there's not much emphasis on the Z afaik) meaning “reward; recompense; good return” which I find fitting his themes of retribution for those not keeping promises and debts, how he keeps all his promises etc.

Name: Ellis Twilight

Meaning:

“Ellis” meaning “kind; benevolent”

“Twilight” in its literal sense, “dusk”. His eyes contains a similar colour palette + I believe it is a reoccurring theme with him

Name: Victoria

Meaning: “Victor” meaning “conqueror”

Victor is one of the earliest Christian names, borne (as Vittorio) by several saints and popes, symbolizing Christ's victory over death. Victor made it big in the English-speaking world during the reign of Queen Victoria, one of the few boys’ names popularized by a female version.

Name: Darius Vogel

Meaning:

“Darius” meaning “possessing goodness; maintains possessions well”

“Vogel”... German for “bird”.

Name: Nica Schwarz/Schwartz (I tried to do some research and it seems like both spellings are used. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Before we go in, I'd like to tell you that there's no single general meaning for his name. It could be the short form of something or entirely new. Both variations, i.e Nika and Nica yield separate results. And many sources claim differently. I've put together what sounds believable to some extent.

Meaning:

“Nica/Nika” meaning “true image; victory; very good; pure crystal water”

“Schwarz/Schwartz” meaning “black”

Name: Ring Schwarz/Schwartz

...Cybird has made questionable choices. So I went with what sounded nearest to his name: Lynn (it's so so much cuter for him)

Meaning:

“Ring” meaning “a small circular band, typically of valuable metal”

“Lynn” meaning “lake, waterfall, pool below a waterfall”

“Schwarz/Schwartz”... German for “black”

[foreverunraveling]

Is it just me, or does Young Royals really love to scare us, lull us into a false sense of security, and then pull the rug out from underneath us (in a way that's much worse than the original threat)?

For example, you see August clocking Wille leaving the movie before Simon in episode 2.

You (if you weren't too distracted by the scene itself) might have worried that he might show up when they were having their first kiss there. But he didn't. The show consciously created that tension and then relieved it as a foreshadowing of the much worse version of that to come later.

That tension is recreated at the end of episode 4 when August is shown outside a window at Forest Ridge.

There's a brief moment of relief--he's at Alex's window, not Wille's. While you know deep down where this has to be going, you still have a kernel of hope. And then even when he does make it to Wille's room, you can't tell it's a boy (let alone Simon) for five full seconds. Hope tries to stay alive. We all know how it ends, though--that tension snaps right back into our faces when August spots Wille and Simon moments later.

This happens on a different scale with Wille and Simon's planned weekend together in episode 3. When Wilhelm tells Simon that August will be staying at Forest Ridge, that introduces a tension of "will they get their weekend together?"

That tension of "will they get their weekend together" is relieved when Wille asks if he can come to Simon's in Bjarstad, only to AGAIN snap right back into our faces when a much bigger problem surfaces--Erik dies. So, they don't get their weekend anyways.

Hell, there's even a hint of this in episode 2 when August walks in on Wilhelm looking at Simon's Instagram before rowing practice. He doesn't actually see what Wille was doing, though--so it's okay--and he ends up taking a call from Erik.

In another way, this happens with Wilhelm and Felice's relationship from season 1 to season 2. She initially kisses him in episode 3, and we worry that he might just go with it. He doesn't, though. What a relief. In the next episode, though, once he's crown prince, Wilhelm is publicly flirting with Felice (despite her relationship with August) over how "cute" she looks in a video. But our worries about this fade with the release of the video and Felice's support into season 2...

Until they actually almost hook up in the third episode, that is.

And it's definitely not limited to Simon and Wille and their relationships. It comes up with Sara and August too. When he initially kisses her in episode 4 of season 1, you might worry that maybe Sara will respond in a less-than-healthy manner, or that she'll keep what happened to herself instead of telling Felice. Sara rebuffs him, though, and tells Felice about what happened in the stables later that episode.

Tension introduced and relieved, so we move on. But then in the final episode of season 1, Sara goes to August's room to confront him about the video. And she ends up kissing him. In season 2, they end up being in AN ENTIRE SECRET RELATIONSHIP that Sara keeps from Felice. The original fear that you might have had about August twisting his way into Sara's heart was well-founded, it seems.

There are also smaller examples. Like when you see Erik driving incredibly fast in episode 1, or when you see Wilhelm riding on the scooters with Simon, Rosh, and Ayub in episode 2, some people worried there might be some kind of accident. (He was going hands-free, for fuck's sake.)

Well, in both of those instances, everything turned out okay, while Erik's actual offscreen accident in episode 3 obviously did not.

The anxiety about Marcus catching Wilhelm and Simon kissing at the Valentine's party is momentarily alleviated when it looks like him and Simon are going inside, but then Marcus turns around and sees Wille (not to mention he sees Simon eyeing Wille throughout the entire song and during the applause).

Let's not even get started on the drugs. We thought that storyline was resolved, gone, done away with after Alexander was seemingly expelled during season 1.

But then he's back in season 2, and the question of whether anyone will tell Alex that Wilhelm was the one to pin the blame on him arises. It seems a minor issue--given that Alexander wasn't actually expelled, and he seems to like Wille, we don't necessarily expect it to matter all too much. In episode 6, though, the "drug thing" is back at the top of our list of problems. We thought that this had been dealt with! That we'd gotten past it!

But it's worse than before--there's a pill bottle with Simon's father's name on it, and August has it! August has a potential witness behind him (Alex) and is threatening to tell not just the school, but the cops!

Don't worry, though, the tension is relieved when Simon tells Wille he's not going to report August to the police... for approximately six seconds until we see that Sara is reporting August instead.

Anyways, following this pattern, you can draw some really interesting potential conclusions about season 3 based on some of the big tension reliefs that have occurred over the past two seasons. Not saying that any of these will happen, but I'm preparing myself for anything:

Wilhelm has some sort of drug OD—like Simon (and some of the audience, probably) worried on the night of the Society party. This is one I'm really hoping doesn't come up.

Wilhelm actually kills August—when Wilhelm puts that gun down, it's a massive relief for most of us (also the characters present). This would just be... wild. And would explain Omar's tweets about how crazy the season is, I guess.

Sara outs Stella's crush on Fredricka, like she was threatening to do when Felice was moving out of their room at the Manor House. Istg if she does this I might lose it.

Wilhelm's mother dies. This was definitely one idea on some people's minds when Wilhelm takes that call that turns out to be about Erik in episode 3.

Wilhelm actually abdicates. This is definitely a threat made in season 2 that was later assuaged. I'm pulling for Wilhelm taking the throne only to abolish the monarchy. That might be a bit too optimistic on my part, though.

ALTERNATIVELY, August gets the throne. They teased us with this when Wilhelm almost didn't give the speech. August was literally walking up to the podium when Wille leapt up to take his place and momentarily rescued us from the notion that August was going to be ascending the throne.

Wilhelm and/or Simon and/or Sara get pulled from Hillerska. After the video, both Simon and Sara were potentially not going to return to the school. Simon was even late for the first day back, when he missed the choir performance. And Wille was almost physically removed from the school in episode 2 of season 2. Given the statement in the trailer about the school potentially shutting down... this one doesn't seem like too much of a long shot.

It's hard to say what any of this could mean for Simon/Wilhelm's relationship—I mean, in season 1, we had about six instances where we thought we'd get Simon and Wilhelm together and originally didn't (the first music room scene, the conversation after Erik's memorial, the second music room scene/drug situation, the video leak, Wilhelm LYING about the video leak).... the reasons kept getting worse and worse, until there's a release of tension when Wille says he won't deny the video—only for it to be far more crushing when he does deny it having promised otherwise. It seems like there's a new, bigger problem every time they turn around. So far, they've overcome all of the obstacles they've faced (honestly, I don't know how)... but I can't imagine that they're about to be facing an easy course based on that trailer.

Anyways, these are my meandering thoughts about some ways that we can try to guess at what we might have coming based on the show's patterns and its use of foreshadowing. Like I said, I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for some of the wild-ass shit that might go down. So these are some crazy scenarios based on a few fake-outs that we've had so far. I'm still hoping that they don't take the smallest, most hopeful bits of seasons 1 and 2 and crush them in season 3....

[malinthebodyguard]

Young Royals is anti-monarchist propaganda (always has been) 

I think it’s fair to say that most of the fandom was quite happy with the finale. However, I’ve seen a handful of posts by people who were unhappy, specifically  those who were unhappy with Wille giving up his place in the line of succession. These criticisms range in everything from dismissing Wille’s choice (Wilhelm has made a harsh decision without thinking of the consequences, this won’t actually make the media circus around him go away), to those disappointed in how the monarchy in general was represented (Wille could have modernized the institution, no one in the show attempted to consider how the monarchy could be good, actually). I don’t want to invalidate anyone’s feelings about the finale. If you didn't like it, that’s more than ok and I don’t want to argue with anyone about their taste. 

But when it comes to criticism about Wilhelm giving up the throne,  I do find myself frustrated at what I see as a fundamental misunderstanding of what this show was trying to communicate. Young Royals, plain and simple, is a story that  denounces the incompatibility of antiquated and hierarchical institutions (Hillerska, the monarchy) with equality and justice. 

If you’ve had the displeasure of being my fandom friend you’ll know that I’ve spent the last 3 years yelling about how this show is about abolishing the monarchy. I even wrote a lengthy  fanfic with the sole excuse of having Wilhelm arrive at this conclusion. Still, I knew that whatever statement the show wanted to arrive at, we’d only really be getting to it at the end of the show. 

Seasons one and two were setting up all the characters on the chessboard for the end: Wilhelm is the Crown Prince, although he does not want to be. He and Simon are in love, but Wilhelm’s role drives a wedge between them. Erik’s legacy and August's spot next in line are keeping Wilhelm in his place.

 From episode one, I think the show was telling us about the many things that are wrong with the monarchy, but I don’t think it’s until season three that these discussions become more explicit. Is this why some people were disappointed by the ending? Maybe so. Still, I wanted to look at how season three in particular answers some of the questions or issues  people are bringing up regarding both the monarchy and the Wilhelm’s choice. 

What do you like about the monarchy? 

Season 3 Episode 4 is the first time we hear an explicit discussion about why the monarchy could potentially be a good institution. I’ve seen some people complain that the show didn’t give this idea enough thought. 

I completely disagree with this take: the short conversation Wille and Simon have in this episode  is succinct, but still effective at presenting both arguments in this debate. A  longer and more drawn out conversation would have been a bit unrealistic and probably boring to watch. These are not academics having a debate, but two teenagers who are talking about what for them is emotionally charged.

There’s also no need for a longer, more detailed discussion. Wilhelm does provide a very good answer to the question: The monarchy is there to unite the people. To be a neutral party in situations when the government cannot or will not interfere. 

A quick civics lesson: In parliamentary democracies, the monarch serves as the Head of State. 

This role is predominantly representative, although in many places the government is formed in the name of the monarch. This could, theoretically, grant them some political power-- since they could technically reject the winning party from forming a government. However, in most parliamentary monarchies, the King or Queen simply has to accept whatever decision is made based on election results.

However, the value of the Head of State is precisely in its apolitical nature. Regardless of who’s in power, the head of state is a neutral ambassador of the nation, both in and outside of their country. Their job is diplomatic and representative, and one that is thoroughly divorced from politics. This is what Wilhelm meant when he said that the monarchy was there to ‘unite the people’. Whenever I’ve spoken to pro-monarchy folks about their beliefs, they cite this as the reason why they like it. 

It’s easy to see why Wilhlem would latch on this as his main argument to defend the institution. I don’t think there is anything inherently bad about having a separate head of state that represents the country. I don’t think the major grip with this issue is the having a head of state, but the fact that the head of state is a hereditary position. Simon says this himself twice in this episode: the issue is not that the head of state exists, but that the head of state is not an elected position. Furthemore, the head of state is a role that is imposed on a person not by their talent as a public speaker or negotiator, but by a simple accident of birth. 

The job’s legitimacy or importance should not be above any individual’s right to autonomy and self-determination. Furthermore, considering that taxpayers are the ones who finance this position, shouldn’t they be able to elect who it is? 

Let’s imagine a scenario where a friend tells you they’ve gone into a career because everyone in their family works in that industry, and they simply had no choice in the matter. It wouldn’t even matter if they were good or bad, they had a job in this career guaranteed from birth. 

 Would you not be concerned that maybe your friend is unhappy for a rather unnecessary reason? Would you not think that perhaps someone who actually wanted the job would be better suited for it? Would you think it right for a company to hire someone simply because of their family history? Would you consider any of this fair? And what is so special about monarchy that makes us have a different answer for it than we would if the question was about law or medicine? 

You’ll always be famous. 

Another common criticism I’ve seen is that Wilhelm will inevitably regret his decision, especially once he realizes that public scrutiny will not be going away. This is true, Wilhelm will likely always  be a figure of public interest. But to me, this has always been a negative consequence of the monarchy, and I have a hard time seeing this is a valid reason why he should stay in it. 

From the second we meet him, we know Wilhelm is uncomfortable with both the public attention and the scrutiny placed on him. However, this goes a bit further than that. I’d argue than more than the  scrutiny itself,  Wilhelm is weighed down by having to keep a public image. Because, remember folks, Wilhelm is not merely an awkward teenage boy with acne and a crush. No, no, Wilhelm is the State. Wilhelm is going to be a publicly-funded representative of the nation . This means, of course, that there’s a narrative, as he mentions himsef, that needs to be put forward. One that’s generic, serious, and unproblematic: 

From the get go, Wilhelm is uncomfortable with the inauthentic and performative aspect of his role.This is a constant we see with Wilhelm in seasons one and two: every ‘performance’ he has to do fills him with nausea, anxiety, or some sort of discomfort.

In season three, Wilhelm begins acquiescing to this performance. Uncomfortable as he may be, for most of season 3 he’s accepted that this is his role. However, the attention this season shifts from Wilhelm to Simon, who’s now the one facing public scrutiny. The difference is that, unlike Wille, there’s no role for Simon to play. Nothing about who he is or what he believes is compatible with the public image the monarchy is putting forward. The only thing he can do in this situation is disappear, and Wilhelm is tasked with having to ask that of him. 

I know a lot of people were exasperated at Simon’s very bad and clumsy social media presence. I’m not gonna argue that my boy wasn’t being a bit cringey, because he absolutely was. But I think the larger commentary here has more to do with the expectation that these two teenagers have to censor and edit themselves to comply with a particular PR image. 

Ultimately, the criticism that Wilhelm will always be famous leads us straight back to the institution. Why does an underage boy have the same PR expectations as a politician? Why is a teenager dating his classmate + being cringe online justification for doxxing him? Unfortunately, no abdication is really going to undo any of this, and things are certainly going to be crazy once Wilhelm announces he’s stepping down .

However, this time around both he and Simon will at least have the agency to decide what they want to do with their public image, including the decision to disappear from the public completely if that’s what they want.

Queer representation 

This a sentiment that has been in the fandom for some time now. This was the main argument why some people wanted Wille to stay in the monarchy. Sure, the institution has always been about bloodlines and tradition. But wouldn’t it be so nice to have Wilhelm as a symbol for the queer community? I’ve always found this idea a bit shallow. I’m not sure how much of a symbol of a queer and progressive country Wilhelm could be, when the whole idea is predicated on absolutely no one having a choice in the matter. Is it really impressive to accept the queerness of the guy you already had no choice in accepting?  

There’s three scenes in season 3 where the potential Wilhelm -and by extension Simon-  could have for the queer community come up.  Farima brings it up in the first episode, but the framing here is reversed. Wilhelm isn’t serving the LGBTQ community by being a queer Prince, but the monarchy is using Wilhelm (and his queerness) to appear progressive.

The show, however, does humor this idea with the May 1st photo. We see what Simon and Wilhelm could potentially do for the community by simply existing as who they are: they’re inspirational. It gives Simon, briefly, hope that maybe something good could come out of this. 

But this moment is quite literally framed by politics. It doesn't matter that Simon is not participating in that manifestation, anything that is slightly connected with politics is a challenge to neutrality of the monarchy. This same idea is stated more explicitly int the next episode, when Wilhelm is reviewing the options for his charity.

Ultimately, any action significant enough to be truly impactful, would be bordering the limits of what could be considered political. He's got to stick it out with these quite frankly boring and limited themes, all for the sake of staying on the very narrow lane of things that are not political.

The weight of the crown. 

Stories about Kings and Queens usually carry the same fundamental tension of duty vs self. 

In order to rule, our protagonist has to sacrifice themselves, usually for the sake of their country and people. The Crown is an excellent example of this type of story. Sacrifice in that series is framed as something noble and selfless. 

Young Royals started out with this same fundamental tension, but the main difference is that Young Royals has framed this debate as a question: 

Why should Wilhelm give himself up, his happiness, the love of his life, and  his mental well-being? What’s so important and valuable about this institution that requires this sacrifice?

Wilhelm’s journey is about accepting and voicing his answer. He doesn’t want to be Crown Prince, he doesn’t want to be King. 

But by virtue of taking part of this journey with him, we’re able to examine this question from a different perspective: Is this institution valuable enough to justify all of this? I think the show is inviting all of us to evaluate this situation and arrive at the conclusion that it isn’t.

Even someone like August, who wanted this, is weighed down by the realization of just how much the crown weighs. Of course, a big part of the fandom probably doesn’t live in countries with parliamentary monarchies. Still, considering the worldwide popularity of the British Royals, for example, I still think it’s a worthwhile exercise to question the validity of these institutions. Are they really worth sustaining? And if they’re not, why should we continue to drag them on into the present, citing tradition?

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

Okay question. Cause I see everybody be like “this is not true to Wilhelms character” “end of s2 wilhelm would never” and I just don’t understand that point of view? To me this makes so much sense as yeah he ended s2 with saying that it was him - but as simons friend also pointed out: he did that without talking to Simon about it. And I feel like with everything happening around him it makes so much sense to act the way he does. Is it good behavior? No, but with the way he was raised I wouldn’t expect otherwise. And also, it’s not like he’s the worst person to ever exist (also it is hilarious to me that he tries to solve every conflict between him and Simon by having sex or making out - peak teenage behavior). I’m just curious as to your pov of his character this season so far.

I think this is very much true to Wilhelm's character. Impulsivity and protectiveness have always been two of his key traits and we see that consistently throughout the season. He often acts impulsively to protect himself and/or Simon, even if he ends up doing the opposite in the end.

And it is because of how he was raised that he doesn't check with people before acting. He has never had a good example of that. He has always had decisions made for him. He has never been given the privilege of a choice, and he has been told that that is love. It makes sense that he replicates that with the one person he loves more than anyone else. He is making decisions for Simon because he has learned by example that love is protecting people even when they don't understand what they are being protected from, even when they don't want protection.

Wilhelm also has a history of projecting his feelings onto people. Constantly. We've seen it since season one. The first example that comes to mind is when he tells Simon that dealing is "so fucking low" when he is the one in the middle of a potential drug scandal. So it makes sense that Wilhelm continues to project his own feelings and insecurities onto people throughout this season. We see it in season two when he does whatever that was with Felice. We see it in season three with the Erik stuff.

Wilhelm has committed at this point. He came out, he is out, and he's with Simon. So, to him, pushing it in everyone's face at school, not having to hide, is exactly what he and Simon wanted. But then he has this other side where he needs to control how everything is working within the royal family/court, so he needs to have Simon under control. He doesn't take a second to think about how Simon has his own opinions because he's acting impulsively almost all of the time.

You mention how Wilhelm seems to always turn to sex or making out, and yeah it's because he's a teenager, but it's also because physical touch is his love language. He's using it to make up with Simon, sure, but he's also using it to just show Simon "hey, I love you, and I know we're in a rough spot, but I still love you."

So to me, this all tracks.

Impulsive? Check. Projecting? Check. Not asking for input on things he should have input on? CHECK.

True to character.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 3, Episode 6

Out here in the real world it's been a week since the cliffhanger ending of episode 5 where Simon broke up with Wilhelm, but in-universe it's just the next day, and Wilhelm is being comforted by Felice.

Subtext: This entire episode is incredibly meta, there are so many times characters say things that reference earlier seasons or episodes, or the entire series as a whole. This is the first time, and Felice is saying what we're all thinking. IS IT REALLY OVER?!? 😱

Blink and you miss it: Felice gives Wilhelm her sunglasses and dries his tears so he can hide the fact that he's been crying. Also, look at that gorgeous Swedish summer. It is so pretty.

Culture: The third-years are painting the banners that go on the trucks on graduation day.

Culture: They're also signing each others' student hats, which is a common tradition. You can just sign your name or write something funny or do whatever.

Culture: This car is what we in Sweden call a sossecontainer. It's an old 90's Volvo, it's square, it's ugly, and it was pretty cheap and reliable, so it was very common and popular among working class and the lower middle classes. It was never a high-status car, so it perfectly illustrates the Eriksson family.

Subtext: Oh look, another throwback to season 1 when Sara argued with Simon about their dad, and said that he should stop giving people second chances.

Culture: Oh look, another poem by Karin Boye. This time it's Eternity, a poem about cherishing your time with your loved one, and the text is about how good times feel like an endless summer, which is what it certainly looks like for the kids and their teacher in the lush landscape. But just like in the poem, their endless summer is about to end.

Culture: This is pretty much exactly the reason used when real-world Lundsberg was temporarily closed.

Culture: And Wilhelm isn't wrong, the shitty traditions are in the walls of the place, it's always been like that, and it's always been upheld by everyone involved with the school, parents, teachers, staff, and students.

Subtext: Since this is the last episode, let's prepare the viewers to say good bye to the show, and let's do it with a little montage of students crying and taking their stuff down and emptying their rooms.

Culture: This is a 100% factually true statement, Göteborg is the worst city in the world. Source: I'm a native Stockholmer, and you just have to trust me on this, ok? Look, it's just common sense, alright? Don't listen to people from Göteborg, they're just jealous they're not living in the glorious capital. Also, they talk funny. And they have no sense of humour! And everyone is named Glenn or something.

Culture: I don't think they're referencing an actual school here, and the current Norwegian royal children went to school in Norway, not Switzerland. But the current Danish crown prince went to some boarding school in Switzerland for a while, but then he went to the Danish elite boarding school Herlufsholm. However, it was rocked by a bullying scandal in 2022, so they had to pull him out of that one and deny all knowledge of the events. Feels familiar?

Culture: Solliden is the private summer palace of the real-world Swedish royal family located on Öland, an island off the south-east coast of Sweden. The show has consistently stayed away from every likeness with the real world, but I guess they couldn't be arsed making up a fictional summer palace for the YR royal family so they went with something familiar.

Subtext: Farima is talking about the problems of finding a new school for Wilhelm from an academic perspective, but he's just thinking about how this means he won't be close to Simon any longer.

Culture: Vincent and the boys are pouring one out for Hillerska. It's a way to toast a dead friend, or in this case, a place.

Blink and you miss it: August places a king chess piece on the table before telling his friends that he's Wilhelm's reserve and might be king someday.

Subtext: And he's still so blinded by the glamour of it, despite everything. Thankfully, his friends can bring him down a couple of pegs.

Blink and you miss it: While Wilhelm is returning Kris, the book from last season, the second book in the pile is a book by Kjell Westö, Den Svavelgula Himlen - Yellow Sulphur Sky. It's about a working class kid in Finland becoming friends with his upper-class neighbour family, and his struggle maintaining a relationship with the girl of the family because of their class differences. Slightly on the nose there, show.

Meta: Henry interrupting our boys at the worst possible time is just a running joke at this point. How many times has it happened now? Four times? Five? Read the fucking room, Henry!

Subtext: Last chance to have a party together, but also last chance to see Simon, "maybe ever". Oh no, we have to start preparing for a sad ending!

Culture: Red solo cups are not a thing anywhere outside the US really, but you can buy them as a gag gift in Sweden, because to us they're just a weird movie prop we've seen American movies. Every other party scene in the show has featured regular plastic cups.

Culture: Drinking with the teachers?!? Yeah, sure, why not, everyone is an adult.

Subtext: Emo outfit? ✅ Sitting on the floor? ✅ Full of self-pity? ✅ Exaggerating the catastrophic state of his world in the way only a 17yo disaster boy can do? ✅

Meta: Another throwback to how Wilhelm was referred to as the party prince back in season 1.

Blink and you miss it: Felice hides the wine bottle behind her back before Malin comes in. She knows, Felice. Malin knows everything.

Meta: Another throwback to when Wilhelm was eating the dirt at the very same football field that disaster emo boy Simon is now sitting at together with his friends, who are trying to convince him to go to the final party.

Subtext: This time, August isn't just sorry that he got caught, he is genuinely sorry for everything he did to Wilhelm. He in turn forgives August, and we're all getting closure for this plot point.

Meta: Hey, hey, hey guys, do you remember that scene in season 1 episode 1 when Sara helped hold Felice's hair while she was throwing up? We're doing a throwback here!

Meta: Hey, hey, hey guys, do you remember that scene in season 1 episode 3 when Felice told Sara that maybe you don't have to speak the truth all the time? Well, Sara still doesn't understand why you would lie, but this time she's right, Felice was right to tell the truth.

Blink and you miss it: Stella and Fredrika are making out at the party, Felice saw it, and is making a very funny face. This is also why Stella rudely rejects Rosh, because of course she's gonna choose Fredrika, Rosh was just a distraction to make her jealous.

Subtext: Vincent is talking about Nils, who just came out, but August just saw Sara, and that's the whoever he wants.

Subtext: But despite saying that he doesn't care about anyone else seeing them, he still ducked behind a stack of pallets for this conversation.

Meta: This is a brutal Fleabag reference.

Cinematography: This scene is overwhelmingly lit in that sickly greenish fluorescent hue, but there's golden light coming from somewhere, so Sara and August share one final kiss in that golden light. But there's not enough of it to go around, not enough for their love to last, so August is left standing there alone, and all the golden light is gone.

Cinematography: Wilhelm and Simon left the party sometime after midnight, this is supposed to be a very early morning summer sunrise, and our boys are just gonna be bathed in the golden light throughout the entire scene. Gods, it is pretty.

Meta: Hey, hey, remember that scene in season 1 when Simon was singing that song, and Wilhelm instantly fell for him?

Meta: Hey guys, remember that scene in season 1 when they were discussing welfare politics in class and Simon threw shade on Wilhelm? This is a throwback to that.

Cinematography: Just fucking look at this shit. What a nice view. The nature and the sunrise is pretty, too! Going naked into the water? Yeah, that's a rebirth metaphor as well. Lisa said so!

Subtext: This entire scene is basically Wilhelm trying one last time to get Simon back. They said they weren't gonna, but he's trying anyway. They're talking about that politics class where Wilhelm couldn't speak up because he was "not allowed". So he's still bound by his royal duties, which is why Simon broke up with him last episode.

Subtext: And since Wilhelm is still stuck, he's left on dry land, while Simon swims away from him, free. Guys, I'm thinking we're actually gonna get a sad ending! This does not look good! 😭

Blink and you miss it: Stella and Fredrika are sleeping in the same bed and making out the morning after, and millions of #Stedrika shippers are rejoicing! Yay, fanservice!

Blink and you miss it: Walter is helping Henry up after he passed out in the grass outside after the party, and millions of #Walty shippers are rejoicing! Yay, fanservice!

Subtext: The last photo Wilhelm takes down from his wall is the one with him and Simon, because that's the most important memory of this place.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm shuts off his red lightstrip in his room. Those lights have typically been a symbol of his love for Simon, but he's turning it off. Sad ending confirmed.

Meta: Listen, it's a lovely little song that Simon wrote for Wilhelm, but it's 100% fanservice, it's referencing events in the show that Simon actually didn't witness, and it's even referencing the soundtrack to the show itself! I mean, come on! And we're getting yet another sad boy Wilhelm montage of him moping around Hillerska with his earbuds.

Subtext: Remember how the frog snowglobe was a gift from Erik, who in turn got it from their grandpa, the king? It's so obviously a symbol of the monarchy, but Wilhelm is dumping it in the trash. Are we... Are we not getting a sad ending?

Cinematography: The shot of the flag being raised is cut off at half mast, which is a pretty universal symbol for mourning. Oh ok, we're back on track for a sad ending.

Subtext: This is the first time this season that Simon speaks Spanish with his mom, and the first time in the entire series that Sara does, which shows that they're fully themselves again, they've pulled themselves out of the Hillerska world.

Culture: The graduating students are having a champagne breakfast before the graduation ceremony, that's also very common in Sweden.

Subtext: Felice and the rest of the choir decided to have a little rebellion and not sing the boring old Hillerska song, and instead the new improved one that Simon made last season. No-one told him about the switch though, which is why he's so surprised.

Culture: After the ceremony, the graduating students will run out of the school to find their parents and family and friends, who are waiting for them, usually with a big sign with the most embarrassing baby picture they could find of them.

Blink and you miss it: August's mom and stepdad have also made a huge sign with an embarrassing picture of August Malte as a kid. Adorable.

Lost in translation: The queen is saying "lilla gubben", which literally means "little old man", a very common term of endearment in Swedish families. The show has been pretty consistent in that Wilhelm's family are all using normal words, just like any other family would. So it's pretty funny that despite everyone else using titles and styles all the time, to Wilhelm, his parents are simply "mamma" and "pappa", as if he was a regular kid.

Subtext: As a graduating student you get little gifts from your family, flowers, champagne, stuffed animals, all with a blue-and-yellow ribbon so you can hang them around your neck. August is family, so the Queen gives him one as well. Of a frog with a crown. Which is a symbol of the monarchy in the show. Wilhelm threw his frog in the trash, August is getting a frog from the Queen. I think there might be symbolism here! I think we're setting up August to become the next king! Do we dare hope for a happy ending?

Cinematography: Just fucking look at this shit. The composition, the contrast, the height difference, the distance between them. It's so pretty. And they're talking about how good it was while it lasted, just like how a TV show with a sad ending can still be an amazing experience. Hint hint.

Subtext: We're saying our goodbyes, Wilhelm and Simon are saying goodbye to each other, Wilhelm wishes Simon a nice summer, just like how Simon wished Wilhelm a good Christmas back in season 1, and just like back then, they both understand that they love each other, but can't be together.

Cinematography: And then Simon exits the scene, again, leaving Wilhelm standing there alone, again, having seemingly chosen his family and royal duty.

Culture: It's common to either rent a truck as a large group of students, or to be driven in a flashy car alone or with a friend. The two girls in the centre are sitting in a very nice Aston Martin, while a bunch of their classmates are on a truck. I can't make out the full text on the banner, but I think it says something like "Lock up your sons because tonight we become like animals".

Culture: Svensson is a very common Swedish last name, so to "be a Svensson" basically means that you're super average and mediocre, you're like everyone else. Whereas these elite kids are used to having everyone else bow and scrape for them, so that message is on brand.

Cinematography: We're in the car, it looks like the ending of season 1, and we're doing a close-up of Wilhelm's face. We're ready for the fourth-wall-break of him staring sadly into the camera, having been once again broken down by the system and not getting the boy. We've said goodbye to everyone, roll the credits, start your crying...

Cinematography: ...except the show isn't ending here. We're having an honest conversation between Wilhelm and his parents for the first time. Because every other time he's said that he doesn't want to be crown prince of the next king, he's been angry or upset, he's been threatening, and definitely impulsive. But he's never wanted any of it.

Cinematography: His parents let him go, they open the door to their van, Wilhelm exits, and the show turns up the volume of the soundtrack. "Energetic music" my ass, it's the Harmony theme! It's the main theme of the entire show playing as Wilhelm runs away.

Subtext: Oh, yeah, August sees him run away, and understands that he's next in line now. Sorry buddy, sucks to be you, but never mind that now. RUN, WILHELM, RUN!!! GET YOUR MAN!

Cinematography: The shows turns into the most perfect rom-com, with Wilhelm chasing down Simon's car through the incredibly lush and green Swedish summer. He catches up to them, tells Simon that he ditched the crown for his own sake, and asks if it's really over between them.

VAD FAN TROR DU?

As if the soundtrack wasn't triumphant enough, it now starts playing As Long As you Are Here as they throw themselves in each other's arms. Happy ending! They're crying, I'm crying, we're all crying! 😭

Cinematography: A montage? With all the best scenes between our boys from the entire show? With the text of the soundtrack perfectly matching the montage? I should be outraged at how cheesy this is, but it is perfect. Perfect. I love it. I swear, this fucking show.

Subtext: Finally we are at the true ending of the show. Wilhelm has managed to escape Hillerska, him and Simon and Sara and Felice have all escaped the hierarchies, the expectations, the duties, and the toxic environment of the school. He arrived in a Ferrari, and is now running away with his boyfriend and friends in a crappy Volvo station-wagon. The stiff suit jackets are gone, they're all in white, his hair is ruffled in the wind, and for the last time ever Wilhelm looks into the camera. And he smiles.

He is finally free.

[omar-rudeberg]

they chose each other, finally.

but it's so much more than that.

in my opinion the underlying reason simon and wilhelm have always been drawn together, though of course they celebrate each other's strengths, is in the way they gently encourage each other to confront what might be holding them back from happiness and healing.

simon is a thinker - he's a top student, always intellectualising his next step. thinking for himself, thinking about what's best for sara, about his mum, about taking care of his friends. he feels so deeply - we know he does - but this is always secondary to what his brain tells him about a situation. and what his fascination, attraction and love for wilhelm stirs in him is a depth of feeling. he's not thinking when he's leaning in to kiss the prince at movie night! he's not thinking when he stumbles back to school with wille after the football field. he's not thinking when he abandons marcus to find wilhelm at the ball, when he agrees to keep things secret between them, when he tries to toe the line of the royal court so they can be together. and not that these feelings always lead to what's best for simon, but they start to be something he listens to and follows. he shifts from giving second chances because he thinks that's what should be done, to embracing his loved ones in their full selves because he feels a deep love for them and a love for himself that deserves them in his life.

and wilhelm? wilhelm is a feeler - wille does not for one second stop and think in that first season, hardly in the second and nigh on zero in the third, until that very last episode. wilhelm feels it all - anger, frustration, boredom, pride, arrogance, grief grief grief, loneliness, attraction, lust and love. he acts without second guessing why. he screams without caring who he pierces with them. but then ever so slowly, he starts listening to others and his brain zips online. he's taking note of those cleverer and wiser than himself. he's listening to his feelings and decoding them into the language of words, and most importantly, of considered action.

so we have a simon whose patient questions and careful soul encourages wilhelm to begin thinking for himself, and we have a wilhelm whose unyielding heart, affection and devotion encourages simon understand the value of his feelings, his understanding of himself and others.

thus wilhelm's last choice of the series - to consider simon's words, and those of others around him (boris, my man), and come to a considered decision to reject the institution he was raised in because it's harming everyone he loves - displays the enormous growth simon's catalysed in him. he's finally listening to his head.

and of course then simon's last choice of the series - to choose to let wilhelm in, to choose to stop the car, to once again let himself be vulnerable in the face of dizzying emotion - displays the depth of feeling wilhelm has helped him uncover within himself. he's finally listening to his heart.

they both had a choice, and they both chose themselves, and in choosing themselves, they chose each other.

but they never would have chosen themselves if they had not first chosen each other.

[unfortunate17]

Wilmon and "can I walk you to the bus stop?"

thank you 💜

this one FULLY got away from me, but hopefully you don’t mind too much 💀. I promise one day I’ll write happy, fluffy wilmon and not just them screaming at each other - but for now, here’s them screaming at each other (again)

cw: mildly nsfw

“Can I walk you to the bus stop?”

Simon snorts, wiping fiercely at his eyes as he struggles past the school gate, hobbling towards the bend in the road. For the first time in years, he wishes his mother could pick him up from school like she used to when he was little. She always knew how to cheer him up - the two of them could turn the radio up, maybe even manage to drown out the pounding in his head. “No.”

Despite keeping his eyes trained on the ground, Simon can hear Wille stumbling beside him. “Simon, come on, I just want to make sure you’re okay. I saw Vincent push you - it looked like it hurt.”

Simon collapses into the bench the second they reach the bus shelter, the pain in his ankle subsiding immediately. “Oh, so now you care if I’m okay or not?”

Wille stills, picking nervously at his nails. He wets his lips, “What do you - what do you mean?”

“I mean,” Simon sneers, “you never seemed to care before. You know how many times I’ve walked down to the bus stop by myself?”

Wille wrings his hands, his dark eyes wide as he stands there in his expensive sweater and new sneakers. “I’m - I’m sorry - I didn’t know that you - ”

“You’re always sorry,” Simon buries his face in his hands, trying to keep the tears at bay, “And you’re always - you always have an excuse. That’s why you never let me stay,” his voice breaks, something deep and dark and ugly rising in his chest. “You didn’t want people to know I was with you - you just - you’d fuck me and just make me - ”

“I never did that,” the shock in Wille’s voice is palpable. Gravel crunches under his feet as he steps closer, moving to take a seat at his side. “You’re the one who didn’t want to stay. You always said Linda was waiting for you and - ”

“I lied,” Simon breathes, tears finally welling over. He sniffles embarrassingly, “Of course I wanted to stay, why would you - Wille we were dating. And you just - stopped talking to me because I didn’t want to hide it anymore.”

“That’s not what happened,” Wille breathes, aghast. His face is pale, mouth trembling, “you - you left. All I did was ask you to wait - and then you - you said that we had time, you said you were - ” his voice drops, low and hoarse, “you promised me you were mine - and then you left.”

Simon makes an incredulous noise, “When the fuck did I - ”

“When we were having sex,” Wille bursts, and a hazy, pleasure-soaked memory blooms at the forefront of Simon’s mind.

It had been raining that night - storming even, but neither of them had even spared the window a second glance, too lost in the heat of each other’s skin. Wille had fingered him that time, and then promptly finished before he could even press inside, squirming with embarrassment as Simon laughed.

They’d spent the rest of the time kissing, Wille’s palm tight around him, driving Simon further and further into madness. He vaguely remembers that Wille had been talking the entire time too, his voice sweet and breathless, telling Simon how good he looked, how hot he was, how much Wille loved him.

At the very end, he’d pulled Simon in by the hip, nuzzling their noses together. “You’re mine, right?” he’d asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah,” Simon had gasped back, nearly drunk as he scrabbled at his shoulders, “always, Wille. I’m always yours - I’ll always be - ”

Wilhelm had kissed him then, hungry and deep. “One day I’m actually going to fuck you,” he’d murmured into his mouth, sending sparks showering down his spine.

It had been those words that had finally tipped Simon over the edge, chest stuttering as he watched Wille work him through it. After it was all over, he’d laughed, “If you ever last that long.”

Wilhelm had been adorably bashful, ducking his head, his face pink, “it’s not my fault, okay? You’re so hot.”

For the next half hour Simon had spent with Wille, they’d curled up together, Wille’s head tucked under his chin. “Maybe you’ll finally get around to it sometime next year.”

Wille’s arms around him had tightened, squeezing so hard Simon’s ribs had hurt, “Yeah,” he’d said breathlessly, kissing the skin over Simon’s heart, “next year.”

Now, the memory sits heavy in his stomach, making his heart clench in his chest. “That was sex talk,” Simon says, shivering.

Something in Wille’s expression shatters. “So you didn’t - “ his throat bobbles as he clears his throat, “you didn’t mean it, did you?”

And Simon feels it now - the age old urge to be cruel, to protect his own heart from this closeted, rich boy who has the ability to break it in half on a whim. Still, he’s never had much self-preservation, not when it comes to witnessing Wilhelm in pain. Slowly, he takes his hand, threading their fingers together one by one. “I didn’t say that,” he whispers. “I never said I didn’t mean it.”

Wille tightens his grip, shifting to cradle Simon’s hand in both of his own. He leans his head against Simon’s shoulder, sending a shock of warmth down his spine. “Let’s fix this?” He begs. “Please, Simon? I can’t live like this anymore.”

Simon swallows back a tight clutch of emotion, turning to press a lingering kiss to the top of Wille’s soft hair. “Okay,” he breathes, leaving the I can’t live without you either unsaid.

[annabelle--cane]

so I don’t have the knowledge of details that you have (complimentary) but is there anything in the computer code Colin looking into being written in German and Jonah Magnus’ buddy living in the Black Forest and finding that crypt that one time? Or is that Too far a reach?

vibrating at the speed of sound. so there are a couple of floating details around from the podcasts, the arg, and some promotional materials that may point back to germany having particular relevance. some of this is absolutely me going full pepe silvia, but there are enough threads here that I feel like it has to amount to Something.

so. germany.

archives 'verse:

-> point 1: johann von württemberg. while staying with his nephew in the schwartzwald in 1816, albrecht von closen finds an old mausoleum with the inscription "johann von württemberg" over the door, and it is guarded by a man with no eyes who nonetheless seems to be able to see. in a deep chamber well beneath the ground is johann's coffin, and the room is completely lined with books so old that they'd all rotted through and fused together, the marble shelves they're placed on having little carvings of open eyes all along them. the only two objects in a good state are an illuminated manuscript in arabic that had been kept apart from the rest of the books, and a gold coin with an engraving of a young man with flowing hair, the initials "JW," the year 1279, and the words "für die stille" (google translate tells me that’s “for the silence”). albrecht asks around for any information about johann because the name is unfamiliar despite his quite good knowledge about local history and nobles, and someone says they remember him being called "ulrich's bastard," likely referring to ulrich the i or ii, two counts of württemberg from the 1200s. with that information, in the present day jon is able to find some historical records that point to ulrich i having a son out of wedlock in 1255 who was rumored to keep the company of witches.

-> point 2: the von closens. it seems that a servant nicked the coin albrecht found before he could go home with it, and that was probably for the best for albrecht, because that servant Died Badly from what was ruled to be an animal attack. albrecht did take the book with him, however, and presumably went on to show it to jonah magnus. he then must have gone back for the rest of the rotten books at some point, though, because when doctor jonathan fanshawe visits his estate in 1831, albrecht has a full library of recently re-bound books that he tells fanshawe he got from the tomb, and owning them has done terrible beholding-esque things to him. fanshawe, in his capacity as a doctor, says they should return the books for albrecht's health, and they do so, but just as the last book is returned, albrecht dies, and fanshawe realizes that all the books were blank and finds out that jonah arranged to have them all swapped out by the book binder. when fanshawe performs an autopsy on albrecht's body, all of his insides are covered in eyes.

in his statement from 1816, albrecht says he and his wife carla have been unable to conceive, though in 1831 fanshawe mentions that all of albrecht's sons were away at school when he came to visit. not something that's impossible, they could have managed to have children shortly after 1816, but it does make me raise an eyebrow. magically blessed fertility? dimension shenanigans? fanshawe does mention a tree being burned on the von closen estate that feels remarkably similar to the tree on hilltop road.

anyway, wilhelm, albrecht's nephew, has some children, and the family stays in germany for about another century, but one branch eventually moves to england, and their descendants include mary and gerard keay. according to gerry, mary was big into mythologizing about the von closens and really tried to get him to continue her idea of a legacy for the family, but he thought most of what she said was made up.

protocol 'verse:

-> point 3: colin's comment about source code being written in german. nothing much to explain here, just that it's Weird that source code for some Weird bespoke program for the british civil service is written in german, right? Bit Odd.

-> point 4: the usenet forum. okay so I'm an avatar of the idiot and only read up about the arg after it was already over and don't know anything about code and whatnot, but as best as I can understand: on the OIAR's official website, if you try to submit a form, you get an error message, and if you look into the source code for the error then you find Some piece of code with an IP address shaped hole in it, and there's an IP address hidden in an OIAR advertising video, so you put that IP address into the code, do something else (???), and then find yourself at an old defunct usenet forum from the 90s/00s for people who left east germany.

(it is from here that I got too verbose for my own good, so the rest is under a cut)

notable things about the forum: most of it is pretty normal, and, naturally, it was pretty much all in german, massive shoutout to everyone who helped to translate all 21k words of it. there are threads about finding work in various countries, weird cultural idiosyncrasies, resources, reminiscing about berlin, yknow, normal stuff. the mod “SandmannS” (translates to exactly what it looks like) ran the forum with a bit of an iron fist, which I guess makes sense, it’s the kind of forum that attracted people who wanted to say some heinous stuff and he was really serious about not letting anyone solicit personal information, but he was also kind of overzealous about keeping threads on topic and locking any discussions that he thought were “pointless.” he was eventually strongarmed into opening a thread for cat pictures, and that’s as good an opening as any to talk about some of the Weird things about the forum.

one of the cat photos was posted in february 1994 and shows a cat standing in front of the thames, with what looks like the completed o2 arena in full view (great choice of a red flag landmark to include @ whoever chose it. nice big landmark that was called “the millennium dome” when it first opened, a handy reminder that it was made to celebrate the turn of the millennium and construction wouldn't even have started in 1994). several comments across the threads are dated as earlier than the comments they’re replying to, one person references the content of the phantom menace a few months before its release, and several comments were somehow made after the mod locked the forum in dec 2001/jan 2002.

and okay. the forum locking. I’m going to condense this to all hell because this is already [redacted] words long but basically, “einsamernarr” (translation: lonely fool) was an active user of the forum with a big conspiratorial streak, real paranoid about “the government” spying on him, always getting warnings and just dodging getting banned just before going too far, yknow, a Type of Guy. in december 2001, he mentions in a book rec thread that he was trolling through some databases and found a bunch of old records and he can’t tell if they’re fictional or not, but he’d like to share them if he can. about five days later, he starts posting in several threads that he did something really dumb, people are after him, the meetup they were planning is not safe and this forum is being watched, people should look for him if he doesn’t come back within a week, and he’ll try to leave some info behind for them just in case. a few days later, a couple of people post worried messages asking if anyone’s heard from einsamernarr and that they’ve been getting weird cryptic emails about an “institute” from him, and sandmanns says that he did everything he could, but he can’t keep doing this, and he closes the forum.

marina “avatar of the idiot” annabelle--cane showing my face here again, I don’t know how this next part happened, but it’s possible to retrieve the email einsamernarr sent, open it with a password found in colin’s code repository (that’s a whole ‘nother thing), and find inside: 1. some pictures of bonzobucks, 2. a weird pdf of an old german book on alchemy with a lot of symbols and codes in it, and 3. a spreadsheet of the names, ages, and test results of the hundreds of children the protocol 'verse magnus institute was performing psych studies on. which finally brings us to our next, much shorter section.

-> point 5: “gerard kaey” (sic). gerry’s name is on that spreadsheet, which I think is relevant to this conversation given mary’s obsession with the von closen legacy. archives ‘verse mary keay resented the magnus institute for what she felt it stood for comparison to what she felt she stood for; she saw jonah magnus as a thief who stole away her family’s honor, so what might be different about the protocol ‘verse situation? why would mary keay in this universe send her only heir to go get scrutinized by a bunch of self-important academics?

-> point 6: the berlin dead drop. more arg stuff, we’re getting into things that I’m sure probably have more to be said about them than I’m capable of saying, but from some clues in a picture of cookbooks that einsamermarr posted in the cat pictures thread of the usenet forum to annoy the mod, and a voicemail on the OIAR’s telephone line, people found out the date and location of the first irl arg event, and it was for somewhere in berlin. a newspaper covered in alchemical symbols was found in a bookshop, and from that people somehow derived coordinates, and those coordinates lead to the last irl event where a battered old video tape with a video of a creepy ritual was found (note: the tape was too badly damaged, so another copy of the video came from an arg affiliated tumblr account).

-> point 7: klaus.xls. from a floppy disk found in the second irl arg event, klaus.xls is a spreadsheet originally written in german with about 100 dates and times of potentially paranormal sightings. a lot of it is corrupted and unreadable, but there are columns for category, rank, “TSHU,” and notes. translated into english, notes sections that aren’t corrupted say things like “mr. b,” “war people,” “avoid, “unhappy child,” “ink,” “lady m,” “cats lol,” and “I hate witches.”

-> point 8: albertus magnus and the philosopher’s stone. right, this is where I go a bit off the rails, and credit to this post by @misfitmagpie for discovering some of this. first, nearly every official visual we’ve had for tmagp has been covered in alchemy symbols. they’re all over the logo, they’re all over the in-universe OIAR and magnus institute websites, they highlighted hints in the arg, they’re everywhere, and the end goal of alchemy was the pursuit of the mythical philosopher’s stone, a substance that could turn base metals into gold and produce an elixir for eternal life. the tmagp logo/the coat of arms for the OIAR is centered around an upside down alchemical symbol for the philosopher’s stone, a circle in a square in a triangle in a larger circle. 

albertus magnus (aka saint albert the great) was a bavarian philosopher and scientist who did some writing on alchemy and has been widely rumored to secretly have been a master alchemist, mainly as a result of a lot of people attaching his name to writings about alchemy that he never touched. some have credited him as discovering the actual philosopher’s stone, and while he never made that claim in any way that survives, he did record that he’d witnessed seeing base metals be turned into gold. something of which to take note is that he didn’t go by the name “magnus” during his life, that was appended to him posthumously, it’s just another way of calling him “the great” with a fancy latin word, but it does kind of remind me of that edmond “reimer” halley -> maxwell rayner thing from mag 140. if you discovered the elixir of life and became immortal, you would probably need to nab a new identity at some point, and if people have already been nicknaming you “albert the great,” well…

anyway, the thing that’s really cemented his potential relevance in my mind is his birth and death dates: c. 1200-1280, lining up perfectly with the time period of johann von württemberg (thought we’d moved on from him, didn’t you?). I know magnus timelines are notoriously a bit unruly, especially the further back into the past we get, but it’s scratching at my brain. besides that, I think it would be a really cool move if the magnus this podcast is named for was a completely different person than the magnus the last podcast was named for.

if albertus magnus isn’t directly relevant then I’ve got another theory about the title that I’ll be posting in a hot minute, but it’s not germany related and this ask is already long enough. 

just, to sum up, a lot of protocol content so far has been germany-adjacent, and even if nothing more comes of it I think there are a lot of interesting threads here to speculate about.

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"So am I!" Dorian chuckled, as he thought back to those days of his youth, when he and Randall would use one of the secret passageways to sneak down to the kitchen in search of sweets-he did not miss how his best friend always gravitated towards anything strawberry-flavored, be it cookies, cake, sherbert, ice cream, you name it, he was eager to taste it. If it was strawberry-flavored, Randall would undoubtedly gravitate towards it.

"Me, I've always been more keen on raspberries," he confessed; his mother ate them quite often when she was pregnant with him, and as such, Dorian was partial to them more. Although he had a sweet tooth that was usually sated by any sort of dessert, there was no denying he was drawn to raspberries the most. Raspberries and chocolate, raspberry jam, raspberries on oatmeal, any and all applications he was open to.

"Lizzie, on the other hand, loves anything citrus," he added with a conspiratorial smile, just as the proprietor rushed over to greet them and inquire about their desired cake: Lemon, lime, or orange, Elizabeth loved it (hence her fondness for her mother's incredible lemonade), and Dorian was well aware of it, even once surprising her with a box of orange-filled chocolates for her birthday one year. He looked forward to perhaps surprising her with them again, once they made it to California.

[waybeforeyourtime]

This isn't directly related to YR but I want to bring it up after I've seen way too many negative comments about Edvin backing away from fans.

If you say or imply anything negative about someone for backing away from a space where they are harassed daily, then you suck.

Sometimes actors have a serious threat against them. Like this one. Sometimes, they can't tell you when law enforcement is first involved. Sometimes they simply aren't ready to discuss it and might never be.

But.. sometimes it's simply the pressure they feel from fans.

I know I'll never change the obsessive fans' minds. They have a mental illness that makes them unable to stop themselves. But oh I've seen many people, who should 100% know better, cross so many lines.

Harassment includes positive, yet extremely personal comments as well. Imagine every time you signed on you had hundreds of people telling you that you saved their life, that you are the only thing making them happy, asking them to talk to you, asking you extremely personal questions.

That would stress most people out, even those without an anxiety disorder. The comments are well-meaning but for the person receiving them, they are overwhelming. So, someone doesn't have to only be receiving hateful comments to want to take a break.

There there's stalking friends'/families' accounts, digging in deep for photos from years ago, looking for any sign of the actor or worse who they're romantically involved with. If the actor wants you to know, they'll tell you. That's it. It's that simple. So, please, please don't do this. Every actor I've talked to about this topic told me that it feels so creepy and extremely violating.

Yet, in fandom, we've come to consider that okay and normal. Just part of being a fan. All fans do it. Well, I'm here to tell you that they don't, you've simply found an echo chamber of fans who think like you.

In this fandom, it just blows my mind - given the canon material - that any fans have crossed these lines. Some people have praised Edvin for his portrayal of Wilhelm's anxiety and for being frank about his own and now have turned on him because he's backed off social media, accusing him of 'moving on' and 'not caring about YR anymore.'

tl;dr Actors are human. They are not objects that exist for your entertainment only. Their personal lives are not reality shows for you to watch. They don't owe you anything more than what is in their job description.

If you know your behavior is wrong, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but you can't stop yourself, please talk to a mental health professional. Don't spiral into being one of these people.