NOT THE CASUAL SEASON 3 CLIP????

"I could be free with you."

Is it easier to empathise with Wille?

I have a LOT of empathy with Wille. His vast loneliness, his anxiety, and having less than stellar parents resonates deeply with me.

This post is NOT about empathising with Wille or not. It's about power, hierarchies and privilege, and what they do to our empathy and who we empathise with. The very themes of Young Royals itself.

We all live in hierarchical cultures. Privileges are unevenly distributed; some have more, most have less. Privilges are interesting because they shelter us from experiences, which in turn makes us less emphatic. We see it in August, Felice and Wille, all being blind to the realities of people outside their sheltered world of privilege. Right, "Simon would go to the police so he shouldn't know who posted revenge porn of him on the internet" Felice and Wille?

Prefering one character over another isn't wrong in itself of course!

On the other hand, to empathise with Wille while NOT noticing Simon's suffering, or disregarding it as less important indicates a certain amount of privilege. Not to mention not even recognizing Simon as a whole human being with his own needs and wants, but merely something Wille deserves, a reward for his suffering.

It's a mindset we've been brainwashed with through culture since the beginning of patriarchy (some 5-15K years ago). For gender reasons I was somewhat aware of it, but not explicitely until the #metoo movement of 2017. I've watched so many movies and series where the female characters is a reward for the hero.

It's what we're taught, so of course we normalise that one person can act like a reward or comfort for someone else's pain and suffering. Doesn't Wille deserve comfort when he's hurting? Don't I deserve comfort when I'm hurting?

The problem is the word DESERVE. When we feel like we deserve something from someone else, it's time to take a step back and check if the other person is okay with giving that comfort, and if we're offering comfort in return when needed. That was another lesson Wille had to learn. And he did! Very curious about season 3 and how well he learnt that lesson!

Living in Norway means on a global scale I have massive privilege. Yet on a local scale I barely have any privileges at all. It's impossible to ignore the class issue to cheer for the white boy, because my life is profoundly affected in a negative way by the very class systems that Young Royals is critical of.

To quote my fav indigenous Saemien/Sámi artist, actor, author, slam poet and activist Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen: "How do you endure, you ask? When the truth is that to live as a Sámi is a political act in itself. That just by breathing, I revolt."

It's impossible for me in any way, shape or form to empathise with Wille at the expense of Simon's emotions and integrity. I empathise with both; hierarchies hurt people in both ends of it. Wille is selfish for a long time, and though I empathise, I can't defend his behaviour. On the other hand, Simon had no one else to fight for him against the system of power and privilege so clearly rigged against him. It's the exact same system that is failing to protect disabled people from adverse health issues and social exclusion, perpetuates generational trauma and poverty, and continuing the massive ongoing cultural genocide of my own people in both Norway and Sweden.

Just like Simon, I lack the privileges required to shelter me from the realities of life at the bottom levels of the patriarchal hierarchy.

Emotional growth requires facing negative consequences for harmful behaviour. The older we are, the harsher the consequences need to be for us to learn. Look at August - on a path towards emotional growth, stopped dead in its tracks by the meeting with the queen. What he did was unforgivable imo, but I still hope he'll face the consequences required to learn and grow, because the alternative is so much worse for everyone else.

I much prefer emotionally immature boys to suffer the painful consequences of their actions, in order to mature into decent human beings - rather than being habitually coddled so that they never learn anything and continue perpetuating the patriarchy.

Wille wouldn't have learnt and grown unless Simon enforced his boundaries. The Wille who changed the speech wouldn't exist without having to face the painful consequences of his own actions, learning that other people's lives and emotions are just as important as his own.

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💜 Have a little friends to lovers fluff xx

“I want you to snuggle me.”

Simon isn’t sure he’s heard it right, at first. He’s trying to help Wille - a very drunk, very floppy and slurring his words Wille - to take his shoes off and climb into bed, but his best friend and flatmate is more interested in sprawling every which way, fully clothed, than actually getting under the covers.

“What?” He laughs, wrestling with Wille’s left sneaker, “What did you say?”

“Simon. Simon Simon Simon Simon. Simon,” he says the last one very seriously, propping himself up on one elbow as he struggles to make eye contact, “snuggle me. Right now. We should snuggle.”

“You’re very drunk, Wille,” Simon yanks the shoe free with a small huff.

Wille hums in agreement, “Snuggles, though.”

Simon shakes his head.

“But you’re so cuddly!” Wille groans dramatically, “Every time we hug I wish we were hugging more.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Simon giggles. He catches Wille’s other foot and starts picking at his laces.

“Does make sense,” Wille nods, “we make a lot of sense. Us.”

“Right.” It’s usually best to agree with Wille when he’s in this state. Otherwise he gets pouty and morose and Simon isn’t in the mood to deal with sad Wille tonight.

“Don’t you want to snuggle me?”

Fuck, why is he looking at Simon like that? His heavy lidded gaze is almost longing.

“Why do you want to snuggle me?” Simon tries to tease, tries to throw Wille off a bit, but his voice betrays him and he just sounds intrigued. Insecure.

“Cos you’re perfect, obviously.”

“Wille…” This is getting weird. He’s acutely aware that he’s helping Wille to remove an item of clothing, even if it is only a shoe, “Stop it now, OK?”

Wille frowns at him, “Did I upset you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Simon sighs, exasperated, “Yes. But you’ve had a lot to drink. You don’t want to say something you’ll regret tomorrow.”

“Won’t regret it,” Wille smiles, “I’ll still want to snuggle you tomorrow.”

Fucking hell! Simon grits his teeth. Wille is both infuriating and adorable, and, well… Simon’s seen him looking. He’s seen Wille’s eyes flutter over his bare collarbones when he makes coffee in the morning, wearing only his bathrobe, still damp from the shower. He’s seen the way Wille glances at him when they’re studying together, when he thinks Simon isn’t looking. The way he leans in closer and closer every time they go out drinking. He isn’t blind, but he isn’t stupid, either. Wille is far from ‘out,’ and they have to keep living together for the rest of the semester.

“If I cuddle you,” Simon hedges, “will you go to sleep straight after?”

Wille nods eagerly.

“OK, move up, then.”

Wille shuffles towards the wall, arms outstretched for Simon to fall into. Simon lays himself down carefully, turning to face Wille, but still keeping some distance between their bodies.

Wille grins at him, “This isn’t snuggling.”

Simon rolls his eyes. He groans in mock annoyance as Wille manhandles him into a bear hug, one arm under his neck and the other around his waist. They fit together surprisingly well, despite the height difference. His face ends up in the crook of Wille’s shoulder, breathing in the clean, spicy scent of the perfume he borrowed, and it’s fine. It’s nice, even. Then Wille’s thigh pushes up between his legs, and suddenly Simon isn’t breathing normally.

“Simon,” Wille’s hand is warm on his back, sliding up under his shirt to stroke in small circles. He nudges Simon’s nose with his, lips parted for a kiss, but Simon pulls back, pressing his palm against Wille’s chest.

“Not while you’re drunk, OK?” He whispers, nuzzling Wille’s nose so he knows it’s not a ‘no,’ just a ‘wait,’ a ‘hang on.’ ‘Let’s do this properly, because I really want it, too.’

“OK,” Wille whispers back.

They finally fall asleep all tangled together, limbs and warmth and mussed up clothing, Simon’s head resting on Wille’s chest.

I don't know about you besties but I personally LOVE it when in fanfics, Wilhelm speaks or is learning spanish. Like, "I love you so much i want to be able to understand you in every single way i can"

YOUNG ROYALS Simon's hands on Wille • for @skibasyndrome <3

rip marcus this is who you lost your mans to

To anyone who knows: Is there any chance Young Royals will get more international recognition with awards and things? Like are International Emmy awards for TV shows a thing? I want to see them really get proper accolades -- and yes I know winning awards isn't everything, but Lisa, Edvin, Omar, et al deserve it, damnit!

YOUNG ROYALS 3.06

Edvin Ryding as WILHELM and Omar Rudberg as SIMON in YOUNG ROYALS (2021—), Episode 2