Musings.

Random thoughts on random things (mostly Young royals, let's be real) at random times.

[hakkusan]

I still haven't processed season three, but -

Imagine the ending being them meeting again in the future and Wille introducing himself by his full name and surname and Simon reaching out to shake Wille's hand and noticing the heart tattoo on it (which represents both Wille letting go of the crown and his eternal love for Simon).

There are literally a thousand scenarios running around in my mind on how it could end. All of them are equally as tear-jerking.

[hakkusan]

After careful consideration, this is my prediction on how season three, and Young royals with it, ends.

It becomes too much for them both, but especially too much for Simon. After everything that has happened with Sara, and August, and now being under such intense scrutiny, Simon starts to crumble. Wilhelm, who has his fair share of shit to deal with and is slowly, but surely, losing it, is unable to promise him that all will be well and that they'll make it out together. Simon realises that in order to be with Wille he's gonna have to change and become someone he is not, and even if he was willing to do so, Wille would never be able to let that happen, not when it is Simon's authenticity and genuineness that made him fall for him in the first place.

Hillerska either closes down and Wille is forced to leave or Simon goes back to Marieberg. So they talk and they cry and they make the difficult decision to part ways and they thank each other for everything and Wille shares with Simon that he has been thinking about his future and what he wants his life to look like. He tells him that once he's eighteen and of legal age to make decisions for himself, he'll renounce his right to the throne. It is a hard decision, but he is sure of it. With a final smile and hope in their eyes, they promise to meet again someday, when the burden of what they have been through becomes less heavy to carry.

They meet again a couple of years later, at some party or at a concert, and they do not need words to relay what they still feel for each other. Their eyes say it all. And this time... this time they're not letting go.

This is the only version of endgame-but -not-really-endgame I would be willing to accept. Or any version where they may go their separate ways just to find each other once again. I'm afraid my poor heart couldn't handle the alternative.

[hakkusan]

One thing I noticed (out of the many things to be noticed in the trailer) is the way Wille seems so different from the boy we got to know in the first season. Which, of course, is to be expected after everything he's been through, all the pressure he's under and the expectations he's trying to meet. Anyone would crumble. And it's so unfair because he's not just anyone and so he is not allowed to crumble. He has to change and adapt and try his damned best to stay in control of things that he has absolutely no control over. The prince was a frustrated and lonely, yet awkward and endearing boy who yearned for freedom and managed to find it in Simon. The Crown prince is now a hardened version of the boy he once was; we see him fight for what he wants, yes, and we are proud of him for it, but we barely see him smile anymore and even Simon, who was once an escape for Wille, is now shackled by the same chains as him.

Season one and two brought about many changes for Wille and we watched him become more resilient and proactive in the way he deals with the hand he's been dealt. But along with that comes the loss of the childlike innocence that most teenagers still get to hold on to. I think Simon has always represented that for him; a glimpse into a different world, one of innocence and candor and purity. A world where his happiness never has to come second to his obligations. It feels as though Wille is trying to figure out how to reconcile the two worlds he exists in: the one of love and the one of duty. And it seems as though he's completely aware that he won't be able to split himself into parts so that he can live in both. He's going to have to choose. And I cannot even imagine how absolutely terrifying it is having to make that choice.

I'm rambling. I'm scared. I miss our season one boys who were all giggly and soft and pure and did not have to deal with all this shit.

[hakkusan]

So... I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. I think some people (especially on yrtwt) are very utopian and selective when it comes to their interpretation of the series. The whole point of Young Royals is that nothing and no one is simply right or wrong, bad or good, people deal with different circumstances which make them act in certain ways. It really bugs me and I'm tired of the absolute slander that is directed at Marcus (and Tommy, for that matter) as if he is the worst character that has ever existed. Sure, he has done some questionable things in a manner that I would not support in real life, but SO HAS Simon. SO HAS Wilhem. So has literally every character in the show and that's completely okay. People do bad things sometimes. Simon has literally used Marcus as a way of trying to get over Wille, he led him on, he ghosted him on numerous occasions, he basically cheated on him. Now, does that excuse Marcus' behaviour? Absolutely not. And I understand that it is much easier to sympathise with Simon and get where he's coming from because we get a deeper insight into who he is and what he has been through. And I understand that the lack of the same prevents any sympathy from arising when we think of Marcus. But the blatant hypocrisy boggles my mind. Wilhelm held a shotgun to another person's head. No matter how much of a shitty character August is, Wille did that. He also does plenty of morally grey stuff throughout the season. But there are excuses to be found for every single thing that he does. And again, it's because we, as an audience, got the full picture and understand why he does what he does and acts the way he does. Young Royals, for me, is a perfect lesson of the importance of giving people the benefit of the doubt, of not being so quick to judge others because every single person is fighting their own battle, of trying to understand others and putting yourself in their shoes before labeling someone as wholly evil and non-redeemable. Of course, this is purely subjective and some may feel completely different about it. And at the end of the day, as Lisa often says, the beauty of it all lies in the freedom of interpretation and emotional response. And thank god that she is such a lovely and patient person, because if I as a creator of this masterpiece that we all love so much saw the discrespect and intolerance that certain people exhibit towards me when all I'm trying to do is provide more insight and offer my own perspective, I would swear off of social media entirely and you would not hear from me again.

[hakkusan]

A way out

(The Queen has a change of heart)

The room was abuzz with low murmurs and quiet conversations. It was hard to distinguish the words that were being uttered around them as she tried to focus on her son and his panicked eyes that were searching for a way out. He was clearly distressed and in all the years since she has had him, she has never really found a way to deal with this side of him. Erik learned what Willhem needed pretty early on. On those days where he got quiet or started fidgeting or biting his nails or taking deeps breaths seemingly out of nowhere. Erik knew and she felt comforted by the fact that Wilhem would always have his big brother in those moments when she did not know what to do. But that was not the case anymore. Erik was gone. And she was on her own.

"Wilhelm" she tried.

He was bent over the desk, hands placed on the ends of it, head lowered, his ribs expanding in quick movements.

The others were trying to give them privacy, she knew, but there was only so much privacy to be had when you were the Queen and Crown Prince of a monarchy.

"You need to talk to me, Wilhelm."

He glanced up at her and his eyes told her all she needed to know. He was closing himself off. He was putting up the walls that protected him for so long. The walls that kept him safe from her and the people inside the room. The same ones that kept him isolated and lonely, yet served as a way of keeping him sane. It was not easy, she knew, being him, her lonely boy, and she searched for the words that could offer him a way out.

The door behind them opened and in came a boy. Simon, she reminded herself. A head full of curls and two glinting, brown eyes. His gaze was questioning as he was stopped by security. Searching for something, or someone, that is.

Wilhelm noticed the commotion and looked up once again. Yet, this time his gaze was no longer wary. His expression softened and he exhaled, straightening himself up as he stepped away from the table and towards the boy.

The room quietened as his footsteps brought him closer to Simon. The guards stepped away and the two younglings met eachother halfway as the shorter one let out a concerned "What is going on?".

Wilhelm kept his distance as he responded with a "Everything is fine", in an attempt to calm himself and the other boy down.

It was instant. The change in his body, the way it was no longer hunched or tense, but open as if it knew that solace was near and easy to attain.

Kristina was no stranger to love. She loved her husband, and her family, her living son and her burried one. But even she could admit that her heir was drowning in the depths of a love true and plentiful. A strong love, fierce and protective, kind and gentle. She did not know how she ever had it in her to try and take that away from him.

The two boys were silent, their eyes speaking words none of them wanted to utter in the crowded room. She imagined it was difficult, trying to keep some pieces of them to themselves when the whole world had seen the whole picture they did not want to share. She had seen the video, she had to, there was no escaping it. Just as they were never going to be able to escape all that came after it. And in that had always laid her biggest concern.

Wilhelm reached out and caressed Simon's fingers with his own. A simple, innocent touch, yet louder than any other sound that could be heard in the room.

"Will you stay and wait?", soft words, meant for only one to hear. The intent clear in them. The yearning, as well. It was heartbreaking, even to her, who has fought against them for so long, to hear the uncertainty hiding in her son's words. As if he was aware that he was asking too much and would be rejected. Never fully sure of the one thing he should never have doubted in the first place. She knew she was to blame for that, but the queen always had to be one step ahead of the mother. And that was the cruel truth she had always had to live with.

To her amazement, Simon did not look wary or scared as everyone awaited his answer. She could see why her son was enamored with the boy. He stood proud, as if bulletproof, as if nothing could break him apart. It was hard to admit it to herself, but she was glad that the boy her son chose was strong enough to take it all and not crumble beneath the pressure. Real strength was something that was rare in her world and she was quietly amazed at how the small, brown haired boy did not waver as he stood there, on the other side of them all, as alone as her own boy, looking for a way out yet making himself stay, day after day.

"Yeah", he said. A simple word, almost a breath of air. But the intent behind it clear to her. He would stay, not just today, but every day. He would stay for her son, he would wait for him. For however long it took.

Her heart stumbled as she beheld the pure relief on Wilhelm's face. The small upturn of his lips and the soft glimmer in his golden eyes.

She has been searching for a way to bring him comfort ever since his brother died. Tried to help him in which ever way she knew best. She knew he did not trust her anymore, it broke her a bit more, day by day. But she was willing to be the villain if it meant protecting him against the tides that wanted to take him under. But now she realised that the only thing that could keep him afloat was the very thing that she tried to take away from him. It once may have been Erik that reached out a helping hand, but it was Simon who brought him true peace. A vision of better days and clearer skies and fresh air. A promise of never being alone again, of someone holding his hand as he searched for a way out. And find it he would, of this she was sure, and it finally brought her joy to see the two lonely boys standing there, hands touching, fighting to make it out together, knowing that the only thing they would ever really need, was eachother.

[hakkusan]

The world around him has been chaotic and it feels as though it has been out to get him for a long time now. Hurt and sorrow have been his constant companions for the last couple of months. He almost does not remember how it is to feel happy anymore. Yet, more than anything, even more than happines, he just yearns for peace. Only peace. His mind has been running races for what feels like centuries. Millenia. The what if's, and how's and why's crowd his thoughts on a daily and it seems as though he will never be able to escape them. He wishes and he longs for, and he imagines and he dreams. But he keeps himself locked up so tightly it feels like his own self is slipping further into the abyss every day, minute by minute, second by second, more and more. Peace. Just a little slice of peace. Perhaps he was not made for it. Nor meant for it.

And yet. When he catches a glimpse of the boy who makes his heart beat faster. When he struggles to breathe from all the longing and wishing, he imagines a world where this same boy could be his saving grace. His ruin, and his salvation. Because, though it feels like his hands cannot stop shaking and his skin cannot stop vibrating when he sets his eyes on this boy, it is a single touch that offers him respite. It is the blanket that they lay on, surrounded by dimming light, nothing but silence around them, that builds itself into a home. A place where he belongs. And then it all stops. He looks at the boy and his heart is full. His mind is at ease. And there's only one thought that lingers. Peace, at last.