Okay. So. Simon Eriksson: Just Some Guy From Biology is one of my favourite YR fics ever. I'd love to hear more about it. How did the idea first pop into your head? What was the first scene you imagined? How did you decide how the OCs would be (towards Simon and Wille and the monarchy in general).
(But also, just generally anything you have to say about it!)
Ahh! I'm so glad people still think about that one lol
I have so much to say to this question, actually.
The idea popped into my head one night when I was talking to a friend (potentially @the-navistar-carol ??) and I was like "dude... Simon is, like... just some guy..." And so naturally I thought about how I could fit that into his actual world. It was before season 3 dropped, and we were all living in the will he/won't he of the King! Wille plot.
The first scene that popped into my head was Wilhelm showing up at the library to pick Simon up from school. I imagined a whole group of people suddenly having an oh moment, because Just Some Guy Simon was actually, in fact, not just a guy. They didn't get there on their own, because Simon is so often written off by everyone in his life. And at Hillerska, at first, that feels so bad. But I'd imagine that anonymity might feel really good after he and Wille become serious. Almost nostalgic in a way.
As for the side characters, I knew I wanted there to be one hyper boy-crazy girl in the group. Obsessed with royal life and the prospect of going to school with the future king. The kind that Felice would have been in a lesser show. Someone who would overlook Simon because she simply didn't stop to think about anything but her own ambition and daydreams. Not because she's necessarily cruel, but because she hasn't been given the opportunity to grow yet. She feels very self-important and entitled because no one has challenged her before. She thinks she knows more than everyone because no one has ever told her she doesn't. That was where we got Sophia. (Sofia? how did I spell her name???)
Melvin was the next one I created because he's the exact opposite of her. He's super, super chill. Like a guy who is completely comfortable in his sexuality, his masculinity, and his intelligence. He knows exactly who Simon is and just doesn't care, because it doesn't change his life one bit. Not to say that he's not a bit awkward at first, but not so much that Simon sees it as any more than the guy just being aloof and kind of a nerd. I gave him a bit of a backstory with his daughter so that he had more pressing things to focus on than what Simon may or may not be hiding. Also I really liked the idea of each of the three characters having a thing outside of the group.
Now with those two, I'd given myself two extremes. Also in those two, I'd given myself somewhat of a mirror in August and Simon.
So there needed to be a Wilhelm.
And then I got Engla. She's not quite as obsessed with the boys and the royalty as Sophia is (Sofia????) but she likes fitting in and having a friend. Maybe her home life isn't the best, so having someone to hang out with is good for her. Most of her desire to be in those conversations comes from the deep need to fit in with this group. She knows Simon is familiar, but not enough to go thinking too hard about it and potentially messing everything up.
And so I had not only three side characters, but three mirrors for characters we already know. Characters Simon is familiar and comfortable with interacting with, whether he knows it or not.
wow ok that got away from me. I hope that was coherent lmfao.
tell me what fic you want a director's cut on
