Untitled

[bedlund]

going chronologically was of course the right choice for the show but man i love the prologue in heated rivalry so bad. boston montreal game. these two guys are trying to kill each other on the ice. the audience is frothing at the mouth. the montreal metros lose the game and they are coming up with ways to kill rozanov if the purge ever happens. and then when shane gets home there's a knock on the door and he's opening it with a "what took you so long". remember the two guys who were just trying to kill each other? Surprise! they are having incredibly tender sex. shane's inner monologue the whole time is "i am a bad seed on this earth (for wanting to fuck men). everything i want (fucking men) is horrible and fucked up. i am evil. i am evil. i am evil but i will find a wife. yes btw this has been going on for seven years and he has ruined me for anyone else. but i am NOT in LOVE."

[khaalibilli]

And this is part of why ‘some people’ consider the show better than the book even though it’s actually a very faithful adaptation..because In the book, the access to the (totally unreliable borderline absurd) internal dialog puts the internalized homophobia, self-loathing and denial to the forefront, and to see the love and obsession you have to read between the lines and focus on their actions not their pretend-justifications. Especially so with Shane.

That’s one of the reasons Heated Rivalry is so re-readable to me - I always notice small new things that shatter the ‘I hate him’ illusion they’ve built every time I reread.

The show on the other hand is just showing the story from the outside - without comment - and these two look so in love from the beginning, that the self-loathing that defines their early relationship (both Shane and Ilya call it “this fucked up thing” at different points in the book) isn’t quite there. It more clearly reads as the forbidden-love story this really is - and Jacob really leaned into that too by making subtle choices (like Shane’s mom being a momager and slightly homophobic, even Ilya’s dad being invested in the rivalry, casual homophobic language by teammates) that shift focus to the external pressures and hockey culture that drives their behavior and fear.

[khaalibilli]

I’m in no group chats, no WhatsApp groups, no evites, no neighborhood gossip. It makes me so sad I feel like I should write poetry about it.

[draconym]

Working with young children has made it very clear to me that bead crafts are fundamental to mental health. I think if society collapsed and we had to start over again completely from scratch, humans would immediately reinvent fire, soup, and beads.

[buttpoems]

embarrassing myself

[khaalibilli]

Juhi Chawla and Shahrukh Khan in the 2000s being two happily-married, thirty-something best friends, coworkers and business partners were so wholesome and bosses on top of their game btw.

[khaalibilli]

The back of the iPhone was prime real estate, then Apple reclaimed it with the wireless chargers

[khaalibilli]

Yes ‘Wilhelm should have been King’ n all… ‘affect change from the inside’.. but how do you make a patriarchal, heteronormative institution that is based on bloodlines change? Change to what? Just let it crash and burn and run far away, Wille.

[alltoowille]

Okay I think all the time about Simon saying “so you can only show solidarity if it doesn’t cost you anything?” Everyone acts like he fucking ate with that line but to me it feels tone deaf to the point of nearly being cruel. Because what has it ever cost Simon to stand up for his beliefs?

Getting negged by a couple assholes at school which clearly doesn’t even affect him much? He’s been out for years, his family supports him unconditionally, he goes to protests with his best friends and goes home afterwards to his proud mom.

Wille merely admitting he was queer sent his mom into a depressive spiral that destroyed his relationship with both of his parents, who are also the only long term support system or love that he has in his life.

It put him at risk of becoming king—his worst nightmare—as soon as he turns 18. It pushed him and his sex life even more into the spotlight when he says deepest desire is to be normal and live a private life. And he’s dealing with all of this alone.

I get where Simon is coming from, but I still hate that he is implying that Wille isn’t doing enough and that it hasn’t cost him anything, when he did something huge and terrifying and so fucking courageous and it has actually cost him nearly everything.

[khaalibilli]

So Wille hears “Wille’s song” first in his room, and then we see shots of him all around the school listening to the song and reminiscing. And the last shot is him back in his room, in the exact same spot, still listening. All that to say: Wille got up and immediately threw away the broken pieces of that frog snowglobe after hearing that song the very first time. Then he listened to it a bunch of times more. Ok that’s it.

[khaalibilli]

Too much starcrossed, too little lovers

[khaalibilli]

Nils chanting “Show your dick for Hillerska” with all the other third years, even after being traumatized by his own initiation… Did he learn nothing?

[khaalibilli]

That scene from Season 3 at the campground where Willie says he’s also going to working this summer doing ‘prince school’ and Simon and his friends are all 👀

I just saw it from Wille’s perspective and like.. this is his life. He actually is going to be working all summer: at a job he hates and didn’t choose. He has no idea how privileged that sounds though.. because to him it isn’t a privilege

[hanna-kin]

A different side of Erik

I made a post yesterday about Erik and this is like part two, the other side of Erik, Crown prince Erik.

Before a huge thank you to my MVP @ladyauroraborealis for custom making the gifs I couldn't find, an angel ❤

Wille starts to show his distress of being stuck at Hillerska for three years. His worst nightmare.

Erik tells him to just blend in and he'll find his place. He starts off semi supportive.

But once Wilhelm starts to complain he grows frustrated and his prince role takes over. He tells Wille to stop thinking only of himself and that he needs to be able to put up a front, like he does because Wille's behaviour affects all of them.

Then there time is up and Erik is back to big brother mode. He hugs Wille tightly and Wille is clinging to him, not wanting his brother to leave him.

At first Erik doesn't mind being koalad by Wille and it's just brothers joking around but when Wille won't let go he gets a bit annoyed. He needs to get back and he needs to leave. So he breaks free

He walks away rather abruptly leaving Wille standing there a little dumbstruck.

And he's alone

I just find it fascinating because Erik is probably the most supportive person in Wille's life but he's also the crown prince and has been raised to put the crown first. So sometimes he's more of the crown prince than the big brother and my guess is that he feels very torn and guilty alot of the time.

[khaalibilli]

Eric is just the ‘good cop’ to his mom’s ‘bad cop’ role. But he still has the same expectations from Wille as the rest of the Royal House. He just empathizes and has a gentler touch.

[khaalibilli]

If we think of the Queen as a personification of the entire monarchy, she’s suffering and dying most of Season 3 because Wilhelm’s relationship with Simon is threatening the survival of the monarchy.

The monarchy has also turned its back on Wilhelm as soon as he accepted his queerness, however much they may try to pretend to be civil and in control when in public.

[khaalibilli]

For maybe the first time in history, love and acceptance are the dominant cultural phenomenon. I mean, when has it ever been uncool to hate on someone for their size or color or sexual orientation or gender identity etc.. I try to imagine the impact this has had on kids and teenagers who are able to accept and be proud in who they are.

I just don’t understand why anyone (religious or otherwise) would disagree with that. Why would you want to hate? A world without judgement is only going to benefit your kids and grandkids and neighbors and friends.

Bigotry is so weird.

[khaalibilli]

I sometimes sympathize with Queen Kristina in S2 and then I remember this:

Jan-Olof would have never had the guts to try to use physical force on the Crown Prince unless the Queen explicitly allowed it. On her own son. And had his own security detail do it.

[khaalibilli]

Season 3 theme (maybe duh) : “The price you pay for honesty”