#Sara Eriksson analysis

[raincitygirl76]

Speaking as of March 17, the day before 3.06 drops, I don't see August's arc in 3.01 to 3.05 as a redemption arc. Yeah, he's done one more genuinely nice thing in his life than before S3: for his third years, walking back from the homophobic sexual degradation that he experienced in his own initiation as a first year. Go him.

That's a good thing he's done, no question. But he still organized terrifying initiations (even if they weren't quite as bad as his own), he still got booze from Simon for the initiation party that he'd never had any intention of paying for.

August also allowed his lawyer to make that outrageous statement in 3.01 denying that the video was defamatory. The only reason he's not in jail awaiting trial on CP charges is because he has money and connections to make his criminal act disappear. That's not original, about the money and connections, but I forget who said it first. @unfortunate17 or @billfarrah , maybe... He was also smug rather than penitent while everybody was signing the paperwork.

Also, August persists in walking all over Sara's boundaries. He visits her at Micke's without warning, and doesn't apologize for the position he put her in. He uses that Conversation to remind her that she and he have similar dads, except Micke is alive and Carl Johan is dead. He's trying to play on Sara's sympathy. Even though the whole reason she feels she has to live with Micke is because of august's past bad actions.

And he repeatedly defies her wishes about not wanting to read his first year letter. He follows her out to the dumpster and insists on reading it to her to tug on her heartstrings. Even after she was clear she didn't want to read it and gave it back to him.

Now, was August being manipulative in S3 on purpose? No. But he and Sara aren't an example of a healthy relationship just because in S3 Wilhelm and Simon have an unhealthy relationship. I know I shouldn't use the word healthy, but at the moment I can't think of a suitable synonym.

So yeah, now he's done exactly two nice things in his life that we know of:

Buying Sara for Rousseau

Dialling back the sexual intimidation on the Forest Ridge initiations when he was a third year. Although the initiations August presided over were no walk in the park, so let's not give him too much credit.

I'm not saying he's a soulless monster. He's only 18 going on 19, he has time to improve before we write him off altogether. But he has STILL never apologized to Simon and Wilhelm for the sexual violation he inflicted on them. As soon as the NDA was safely signed, his own bad actions regarding the video were in August's rear view mirror.

So yeah, he listened to Boris and he tried to do a nice thing or two. But he’s still August.

#young royals #queue #wilmon #august horn of årnäs #fuck you august #sara and august #august horn #sargust #August horn analysis #Sara eriksson #Sara Eriksson analysis #trauma young royals #Prince erik #sex tape young royals #nda #nda young royals #simon eriksson #prince wilhelm #reception arc #initiation young royals #Micke eriksson #lies young royals #secrecy young royals #young royals analysis #yr s3 spoilers #yr s3 #yr spoilers #graduation young royals #graduation dinner #graduation dinner young royals

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

There's so much discourse around Sara and August. Whether they were good together or not. Whether they loved each other or not.

What we tend to overlook is the fact that they talked to each other. Enough that they knew each other.

He wanted someone to talk to and he thought about her. So he went to find her and he knew to find her in the stables. Then he immediately proved to her that he was someone "safe" by petting her horse. She misunderstood his invitation that evening but he didn't make her feel bad about it. We know she talked to him about the Felice Horse Selling Thing™️ because when she comes to say that Felice was officially selling the horse, he just said "I thought you already knew that" because she had already told him.

Sara talked to August. The same why August talked to Sara. He opened up about the drugs and why he used them. He opened up about being Wilhelm's back up. He opened up about his guilt and about feeling like a horrible person.

She talked to him about her horse and about Felice. Two things that she considers the most important in her life. She also opens up to him about wanting to fit in. Wanting to "be like him" meaning that she wanted to be like the Hillerska crowd.

They talked to each other.

So like, yes, they did horrible things. They are bad people. But they aren’t incapable of caring. And they aren't entirely self centered. That's what makes their individual betrayals even more heartbreaking. Because we know they're capable of caring and they made the choices they did anyway.

#young royals #young royals analysis #sara and august #sara eriksson #august of årnäs

[allthefakepeople]

there's something about felice in her first real conversation with sara after everything at the white party where she admits to telling the inspector everything and that she's worried that she's the reason the school is shutting down only to have sara say that it's a good thing that she didn't lie which is immediate proof as to *why* sara is the real friend to felice when all of her other friends just got mad at her for telling the truth

#their friendship is everything to me actually #young royals #yr #young royals s3 #yr s3 #young royals analysis #kinda #sara eriksson #felice ehrencrona #young royals s3 spoilers #yr s3 spoilers #young royals spoilers #miels rambles

[aledlastbestie]

Simón and Felice becoming friends in s3

Since season 1 I've wanted Simón and Felice to become friends, I always felt that they could be very good friends and that it could be a beautiful friendship.

After watching the clip that came out today and seeing how sad Felice looks (Sara's betrayal is very recent) and that her friends are talking about Wille not being at school since the Jubilee, I started thinking about her and Simón possibly becoming friends.

We don't know if Simon has been going to school alone these days when Wille was probably at the palace but, if so, Simón has no friends in Hillerska.

His only friends there are/were Sara (his sister with whom he is now on bad terms) and his boyfriend who is not at the school. But canonically we know that he and Felice get along, they're just not friends. I think that if Simón is alone at school after the speech it would make sense for him to either approach Felice or for her to approach him to support him.

Going back to Sara's betrayal, I believe that there is no other character who can understand how Simón and Felice are feeling at this moment.

Wille wasn't really hurt by the betrayal, he was hurt that she hurt Simón but he doesn't see it as a personal attack against him, he doesn't see Sara as a traitor, he sees her as another person manipulated by August.

Felice's friends don't know that August was the one who recorded the video and they believe that Felice is angry at Sara for sleeping with her ex, they have no idea how serious the situation really is.

The people most emotionally affected by the betrayal are Felice and Simón and I feel that it would be very beautiful to see them develop a friendship and support each other.

#young royals season 3 #young royals #simon young royals #simon eriksson #yr s3 #felice ehrencrona #felice young royals #simon and felice #young royals season two #sara eriksson #sara young royals #betrayal #young royals analysis

[iworshipsappho]

misconceptions about yr characters that i have come across, that really piss me off

the fact some believe that simon essentially forced wille to pick between coming out and dating him. THAT WAS NOT THE ENTIRE CASE OMG. the problem wasnt that wille denied it was him, simon totally understood that even if he wasnt exactly happy with their situation, he knew about who wilhelm was from the beginning and what that entailed. it was the fact that wille essentially promised simon that he would do what was best for them and actually hopefully come out, but then denied any and all involvement with simon, even friendly without a semblance of keeping him in the loop. it was that which created the gaping chasm of broken trust and uncertainty between them. simon NEVER forced wille to come out, it was always going to be on wille's terms.

i saw a post that suggested that sara was the one being a dick at marieberg rather than the one being bullied. and oohhhh boy let me tell you how fucking mad it made me. look im not going to infantilize her and brush off all her mistakes with the dumb reasoning of "oh she's neurodivergent." no, i wont be doing that. like any other character she too has nuance and a lot of depth and its always the one dimensional "analyses" that make me want to scream (derogatory). so coming back to my point. seeing people just blatantly call her manipulative and unforgivable without realising how conflicted her character is just sooo ughhh. (i realise that im not really versed in the intricacies of how her character essentially feels and im always open to criticism and adept analyses of any and all characters :3)

posts were people essentially hold simon and/or sara's mistakes to the same level as the CRIMES that august has committed and its just????? what in the even???? like- as i said, not ignoring the nuance here, but literally NOTHING can justify august's actions. he was always going to use that video with malicious intent. it was never going to be some oops teenage boy did a smth stupid when he literally recorded an intimate video of two minors. nothing can morally or legally (ig) defend that-

apologies if this comes off as like insanely aggressive and incoherent or smth bc this is more or less a vent post fhjsghsjgsg :'))

ANYWAYS yeah

#methinks mesays. #young royals #yr analysis #simon yr #sara yr #august yr #simon eriksson #sara eriksson #august of årnäs

[putnamcapital]

sara-wille

i know we hated the scene of august reading his first year letter to sara, because it felt like he couldn't respect her boundaries. but in doing so, the writers gave Sara the key that Wille desperately needs, the answer to the question he screamed at August in the gym all the way back in season 1, and the thing that will hold him back from ever forming a right relationship with August. WHY? Sara knows. And being able to give that secret to Wille might not repair the harm she did to Simon, nor will it stand in for an apology from August to Simon. But it will help them all understand the catalyst that brought them to where they are today.

Sara, again, the witness. Sara, who can speak a truth that will help them heal. Sara, no secrets, Sara.

the writers on this show, god dammit i want to fling myself into the sun.

#yr s3 spoilers #sara eriksson #trauma arcs #truth and recovery #young royals analysis

[othervee]

I was thinking about YR in the shower this morning (it's where my brain is at its finest) and thinking about Simon and Sara, and how they each react to Hillerska - and the effect Hillerska and its students has on them. And it's led to some personal musings as well.

In the first episode we see that both Simon and Sara are very aware that most of Hillerska's privileged elites either despise them or don't even think about them. Sara tells Simon that she doesn't care about how Felice speaks to her, because she gets to hang out at the stables and ride as much as she wants. Simon wants Sara to tell him if anyone gives her a hard time. The siblings ride the bus home as a united front, taking goofy selfies which show their open affection for each other - very different to the carefully curated selfies Felice is posting or the press snaps of Wilhelm, emphasising how the Erikssons exist outside the artificial bubble of Hillerska where everything is for show.

But in the same episode, in our first glimpse of them at home, we see Sara instructing Ayub on correct table setting and later dismissing her old school as being a bunch of "diverse losers who'll never amount to anything".

On the one hand, I don't blame Sara for resenting Marieberg, because we know she was badly bullied and humiliated there. On the other hand Ayub, present at the table, is one of those Marieberg "losers" and Sara doesn't modify or withhold her words so as not to hurt or insult him.

This is our first glimpse of Hillerska and its values affecting Sara's character and relationships. She's brought Hillerska into their home, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and is beginning to internalise Hillerska values.

What I'm pondering here is: why table manners, now, even before Sara has befriended anyone from Hillerska?

Table manners - and the rules of etiquette in general - are a signifier of class. There are plenty of written and filmed works (and of course fan-created works too!) where a working class person, attempting to pass as a member of "high society", is revealed to be an imposter through an etiquette slip-up such as choosing the wrong spoon for the course they've been served.

Of course Sara, if she wants to fit in, will want to know and practice correct manners - but at this stage, she hasn't befriended any of the Hillerska girls and she doesn't have a reason to think she will. She implies to both Simon and Linda that she doesn't care whether she ever fits in. So why does it matter if her mother doesn't sit up straight at the table? Is it because she doesn't want to be embarrassed at Parents' Day; because she hopes that she will be able to fit in with the Hillerska crowd if she imitates them enough; or has she begun believing, maybe without realising it, the myth that people with money deserve it because they are better, more deserving people, and that good manners is one of the markers of being a more deserving person? That would tie in with her "no-one likes me when I'm me" later several episodes later. She doesn't feel worthy in herself, as herself, and Hillerska is doing nothing to boost her.

Simon's letting Hillerska inside too, and it's altering his relationships as well, less obviously but perhaps more insidiously. Ayub and Rosh are taken aback that he wants to "get somewhere" in life and doesn't want to stay in Bjarstaad forever. Simon is focusing on very direct actions and effects though - he will participate in rowing, which will improve his grades, which will get him into a better university/a better job. But the etiquette means absolutely nothing to him.

The face Sara wants to show at Hillerska is "I am one of you, and you can see that because I participate in and love your traditions". Whereas Simon wants to present as "I am just as good as you, just as I am, and your weird little rules and rituals are irrelevant to me".

And that's all just in the first couple of episodes!

#young royals analysis #young royals #simon eriksson #sara eriksson #this show has layers #this show has layers and layers and layers!

[simonsfish]

I want to talk about Sara, because there's this tendency to dismiss her part in her own relationship with August, like because she's maybe new to relationships and because she's neurodivergent, she got tricked into being with him or taken advantage of or something, and I'm just not seeing it.

At the end of s1, Sara is explicitly taking her own future in her hands. I think that's actually one of the reasons that August even considered her a possible partner - instead of acting in the interest of other people (namely, Simon), she cuts a deal with August that serves her own interests. I think he really values that attitude, that sometimes you need to sacrifice things to get ahead, and the importance of self-motivation to get the things you want. So in that moment, she's embodying in that moment the things he values.

I think the moment Sara gets interested in August is after he kisses her in the stables. She didn't care about him either way but once he shows that tiny bit of interest she starts to consider him. And Sara explicitly wants what Felice has in s1--she wants the fancy clothes and the living on campus and the rich people sensibilities and yeah, maybe the boyfriend, too. And then once she starts thinking about it, it's easy to want those things so badly that she starts acting in service of actually gaining those things, even if that means sacrificing something of her own moral compass.

By s2, she feels this connection with August because they're the only ones who know what he did, and the only ones who know what she did to get herself ahead and live at Hillerska. I think as she spends more time with the girls and gets more of the ideas of what you're supposed to feel with a boy you love, she wants to actually try that out. Like, in a really standard teen need to experience everything kind of way. Yeah, the fact that she's autistic (as am I, the author of this post) influences the fact that she doesn't know all of the things the other girls take for granted in re: sex and love and how to navigate things with boys. But it doesn't really have anything to do with her drive to want to experience those things, and it's not about innocence as much as her not having friends at her old school and being less experienced because of that (and I think probably Simon is a little too overprotective, a thing he can't be in s2 when she's living away from home).

I also think it's maybe worth mentioning, that the girls initially accept Sara into their friend group because Felice likes her but also because she's kind of an anomaly at this school--she's not rich, she does things differently, and she looks to them in a way they don't look at each other. So like when she's questioning things they all know, they're kind of treating it like aw, honey most of the time. Until she steps on a social norm that they don't like, and then it's well, she never knew how to act, of course not. (which, honestly kudos to YR because that is a very real experience)

Anyway, back to August. Sara has agency the whole way through, she's just making bad decisions. She goes to him because she wants to sleep with him, she spends time with him because she likes it. She's not a poor little girl who thinks she's in love but she's being taken advantage of, she's a girl in love who makes some bad decisions because of it. Like, teenage love is SO STRONG because it's usually a newer emotion, and YR shows how that strength of emotion can lead to both good and bad decisions.

Plus, August genuinely likes Sara, too. Partly that's because he assumes she's more like him than she actually is. And partly because it seems like his idea of dating is usually really tied into clout chasing (ahem, Felice) and how to hold his status. Sara doesn't offer him anything status-wise, she's just actually into him, and she might line up with him in terms of goals. That's gotta be refreshing. Also, I love the part where he calls himself King and her Queen before promising not to hurt her. Like, that just hammers home the idea that he sees her as an equal not in status but in terms of like. morals, I guess? And that she sees this kindness in him that she thinks only she gets to see because they're in love, not because he usually hides it away since it doesn't benefit him personally in the world he lives in.

This is reinforced when August buys Rousseau and thinks that will stop Sara from leaving him after she finds out how he's been threatening Simon and taking everything but accountability for his own actions. Legitimately, August seems to think that she will support him, because she supported him with this secret before, and because, like him, she wants the personal status gain and can understand why he acts the way he does. The horse should prove his love, and the other things are just par for the course, baby, you get it, right?

She doesn't, though, and this isn't the point where we should be going oh no, August has been tricking this poor girl and she just finally is taking her life in her hands. It's the point where both of them are like shit, you aren't the person I thought you were, and it's because both of them make these big sweeping assumptions because that's easier than questioning really strong feelings like love and potentially losing that love right away. Sara sees that he's not the person she thought, but in a lot of ways, her whole story has been in her control.

She's just like Simon--young and in love and making choices that might blow up in her face and might make her see she's been wearing those rose-colored love glasses. But hell, at the time, those choices were the only ones to make, those choices were hers to make. Just because she chose badly doesn't mean she wasn't really choosing.

I just really love Sara, and I love how her neurodivergence is woven into the fabric of her story lines, but it's not the biggest thing. It's just like, how she sees the world, but she's still responsible for her own actions, and she's acting on love just like everyone else. And in high school, sometimes that means being in love with a boy who genuinely isn't very good for you.

#sara eriksson #young royals meta #young royals #sara and august #young royals analysis #can you tell i read a post this morning that made me so incensed i had to write a whole ass page about it? lmao

[perfecteggpartyland]

spoilers!!!!!

Sara hit the Neil on the head when she said august loves the person he is when she's with him; also the perfect punishment is of him losing Sara and realizing he doesn't want to be the actual crown prince;

#Young Royals #prince wilhelm #crown prince wilhelm #willhelm x simon #simon young royals #simon x wilhelm #wilhelm x simon #simon eriksson #wilmon endgame #young royals wilmon #wilmon #young royals analysis #young royals august #august x sara #yr s3 spoilers #young royals s3 #young royals season 3 #young royals spoilers

[raincitygirl76]

I wonder how much of the Sargust fallout in 2.06 was due to August being an only child…

He clearly did not anticipate Sara reacting as badly as she did to finding out that her boyfriend had used her tipoff to blackmail her little brother. He probably figured she wouldn’t be happy. But her level of betrayal seemed to catch August off guard. But then, August doesn’t know what it’s like to be truly pissed off at your sibling, but they’re still your sibling.

I had a fight with my sister on the weekend, and we just made up via text. We’re both gone 40 and she’s married with 2 kids (who have their own sibling rivalry issues). But she’s still my little sister, and fighting with her is still not fun.

Sara in 1.06 was not happy with Simon, and I suspect that made it easier for her to cut that deal with August. Judging by 1.06, August could have assumed that Sara doesn’t like Simon very much, and won’t particularly care what August does to him. But again, August has no siblings.

Sara cut a deal with August in 1.06 when she felt betrayed by her brother and panic-stricken at the thought of her mother forcing her to return to the old school where she had been viciously bullied. But eventually Sara’s anger at her little brother cooled. And he remained her little brother.

A few months pass. Simon and Sara aren’t as close as they used to be, with Sara boarding at Hillerska this term. And Sara is preoccupied with both her secret romance and the pending sale of Rousseau. But Simon still tells her when he finds out it was August who leaked the video. And Sara tells August what Simon told her, expecting him to do the right thing. Is she naive for thinking that? Yes. But she’s also only 18 and in love.

Then August uses her information, not to confess his crime to the police “spontaneously” before Simon can turn him in. But instead to blackmail Simon with something or other (Sara doesn’t know the specifics) so Simon can’t turn him in. Sara must be doubting at this point whether she ever meant anything to August, or if he was just using her to keep her quiet about what she knew.

As it happens she’s wrong about that, but it’s not unreasonable for her to doubt August’s motives for pursuing her, given what she’s just found out about how he used the information she gave him. Note on the shooting range she says “Because I was in love with him.” Past tense. Not “Because I’m in love with him,” present tense.

Furthermore, when she tells the truth, partly because she fears Wilhelm will blow August’s head off, Simon is devastated. He trusted Sara, and she betrayed that trust. She betrayed it more than once, has had this information since December and got involved with August anyway. I don’t think it really hits Sara until this point just how badly she’s fucked up, or just how devastated Simon is.

He’s her little brother, he’s in pain, she wants to hurt the person who hurt him. But the person who hurt him is her. She did this to him. Sara is not a forgiving person, look at how she decisively cut Micke out of her life. She must be fearing that she’s ruined her relationship with her only sibling for the rest of her life, that he will never forgive her.

I personally think Simon will forgive Sara eventually. But Sara knows what it’s like to be betrayed by an immediate family member, and knows she will never forgive Micke. It’s not difficult to imagine Sara extrapolating from her own experience, and believing Simon will permanently cut her out of his life the way she has permanently cut their father out of her life.

So she’s hurt her only sibling very badly, and for what? For a guy who turned out to be a duplicitous asshole and used her tipoff to hurt her brother. Again.

And August thinks she’ll simmer down. Yeah, she walked away from him on the shooting range, but he approaches her the following morning confidently. He has an ace in the hole to get his girlfriend to stop flipping out: he’s bought Rousseau for her. August (again, an only child) assumes the gift of Rousseau will be sufficient recompense for deep-sixing Sara’s relationship with her brother.

It isn’t sufficient recompense, and August is taken aback when Sara refuses the magnificent gift. But August doesn’t understand the push-pull of sibling dynamics. That Sara is experiencing family loyalty at a very inconvenient time (from August’s point of view).

August’s father is dead, he’s clearly not close to his mother, and he hates his stepfather’s guts. And he has no siblings, nobody else who understands what it was like to grow up at Arnas with Carl Johan and Louise Horn as their parents.

He was pretty close to his second cousin Erik before Erik wrapped his Ferrrari around a tree. But it seems like that friendship didn’t really get close until a traumatized, recently bereaved 16 year old August showed up at Hillerska as a first year and Erik (then a third year) took August under his wing.

August and Erik knew each other all their lives, but they were only close for about 2 years. And given they first got close at 16 (August) and 18 (Erik), that’s not actually analogous to a sibling relationship. Erik was already old enough to drink and vote, and August only a few years off. That’s not spending your childhood together.

And we’ve seen how superficial August’s friendships with his two best friends at Hillerska are. In S1, August and Vincent trash talk Nils behind his back for being nouveau riche. In S2, given an opportunity, Vincent sells August out, and Nils helps Vincent do so. August does not have any siblings, nor any sibling-like relationships where mutual loyalty is crucial.

So August sees Sara sell Simon out in 1.06 and takes that at face value. He doesn’t realize that Sara is angry with Simon at that point, but will get over it. Because August doesn’t understand the messiness of sibling relationships. Or their importance.

I know adults who have cut siblings out of their lives because that sibling had hurt them so grievously they said enough. But I don’t know anyone who has cut a sibling out of their life without giving it serious thought beforehand. Even if they’re better off without that sibling in their life, it’s still a huge decision. Sometimes it’s a bigger decision than cutting a parent out of their life.

Matters are complicated somewhat by divorce, remarriage, half-siblings, step-siblings, etc. obviously. But generally speaking, if you spent a significant chunk of your childhood living in the same house as someone, the decision to cut them out of your life is a very serious one.

My best friend has two older half siblings she is not close to and has never been close to. But one is 20 years her senior and the other 18 years her senior. She is the only child of her father’s second marriage, and she acts like an only child. The combination of her father’s divorce from his first wife and the massive age gap means she has very few shared experiences with her half-siblings. Now, part of that is on her dad. But part of it is simply that both her half siblings are old enough they could be her parents themselves.

So yeah, August was raised as an only child. Even if it turns out Carl Johan fathered another child out of wedlock at some point, that hypothetical half-sibling didn’t grow up with Carl Johan. There might be curiosity, it might even lead to a bond eventually, but there won’t be the shared childhood experiences.

Whereas Sara and Simon are full siblings close in age. Furthermore, they grew up together, in a traumatic family situation with a father who was an addict (and possibly abusive to boot) and a mother who meant well but was struggling to cope. Even if Simon and Sara never reconnect, they will still always have those shared experiences of growing up as Micke and Linda Eriksson’s children.

So I really don’t think August saw Sara’s total disillusionment with him in 2.06 coming. Because August isn’t anyone’s brother and doesn’t really get it.

#queue #young royals #siblings young royals #August horn analysis #Sara eriksson analysis #young royals analysis #simon eriksson analysis #sara eriksson #August horn #family young royals #wilmon #betrayal young royals #angst young royals #prince wilhelm #Prince Erik #simon eriksson #young royals season 2 #Simon and sara #friendship young royals #parents young royals #eriksson family #micke eriksson #linda eriksson #Carl Johan horn #Vincent young royals #nils young royals #august horn of årnäs #August horn af Arnas #sex tape young royals #lies young royals

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

August och Sara

Thinking about August again. Thinking about his difference in relationships. Thinking about how he treated Felice vs how he treated Sara.

I think August was — is — genuinely in love with Sara. Like head over heels, the way Wille loves Simon, in love with Sara. It’s even more obvious when you think about how he treats her vs how he treated Felice in season one.

In season one, he says he’s going to marry Felice, but really he means he’s going to sleep with Felice. He tells Erik it’s better to get them when they’re “too insecure to object.” He had no intention of anything serious with Felice. He says he wants to take her on a date. He mentions flying her to a Michelin Star Restaurant, but only after she mentions how the only thing around is the lowly pizza place in Bjärstad. During sex he focused on his own pleasure. He told her not to closer her eyes. He didn’t want to be intimate with her (the position they’re in literally prevents any eye contact). He was using her. Every scene with Felice was impersonal at best. When they took their “relationship” public, he didn’t act much differently. He just walked her over to her friends (notice they didn’t talk about it with his friends) and then he moved on. He kissed her best friend to get back at her for being friends with Wilhelm. When they broke up, he was mostly upset that he was publicly called out. It wasn’t about Felice or losing her.

Now with Sara… Jesus Christ with Sara.

He talks about not just marrying Sara, but making her Queen. And he means it. He has every intention of being serious with Sara and staying serious with Sara. He wants to bring her to the ball. He sets up candles in his room for her with champagne. He waits patiently and plans to take her to the dance, not just see her there or meet her there or take her home after. He wants to do the whole thing. The whole song and dance of taking her as his date. The first time they have sex he immediately makes it about her and she cuts him off and says to stay up with her. He tries to make it about her pleasure and she stops him. In fact, the first time they have sex, he just invited her over to talk. He literally had no intention of sleeping with her. There are many many moments of them lying in bed together and being intimate. He lets her sleep late in his bed. He actively makes sure she gets enough sleep, but also makes sure she has the privacy she wants when she leaves. When she shows up at his door upset he comforts her. He does it in the hallway where anyone can see and he doesn’t care. He wants to be public with Sara (ie the dance invite). When it all goes tits up, he doesn’t break about Sara. She has to be the one that confesses because he won’t do that to her. He literally would have taken the bullet to make sure her friends and family didn’t find out what she did.

But the most damning piece of evidence I have for August being in love with Sara is the fact that he bought that damn horse.

You wanna know how he paid for that horse?

He sold art from his inheritance. He sold a painting. Something that he could get rid of quickly and make money quickly so he could buy that stupid horse that Sara loves so much.

In season one August cannot pay his tuition. His mother tells him to sell a painting because it will pay his tuition “a hundred times over.” Do you know what his response was in that moment?

“I would rather die.”

In season one he would rather die than sell that painting.

August is equating Sara’s unhappiness with death. Literal death.

He could not care less about her imperfections. He does not care that she blew him off a few times. He does not care that she shows up in his room smelling like a horse. He does not care that she’s blunt. He does not care that she’s autistic or has ADHD (which notice he never once took advantage of to fuel his drug habits). He does not care that she’s Simon’s sister. He does not care that, had he one day actually made her a queen, he would have difficulties with introducing her to royalty and the royal life. August does not care.

The only thing he cares about is her.

I’m distraught over this.

#young royals #yr s2 spoilers #august of årnas #august young royals #sara and august #sara young royals #sara eriksson #young royals season 2 #young royals season 2 spoilers #young royals analysis

[missmeganlee]

Something I just realized about Sara and August’s dynamic (thanks to @zee-has-commitment-issues latest edit) is that Sara brings out the best in August but August brings out the worst in Sara.

Sara keeps this MASSIVE secret from Simon after having a no secrets pact with him. And not only that, she allowed for that secret to hurt Simon by warning August that Simon was going to go to the police. She also acted very sneaky by snooping on Felice's phone and basically threatening Stella with her knowledge of Stella's feelings for Fredrika.

On the other hand, it is with his relationship with Sara that we see August have compassion for someone else. I honestly hate how cute he is with Sara cause in my head I'm like "how dare you make me kinda like you because you're really sweet with her." We see that he has the ability to look past people's social standings and is not as attached to his own social status as previously thought.

#young royals #young royals season 2 #young royals analysis #sara eriksson #sara young royals #august of årnas #august horn #august young royals

[daylightaftertherain]

no bc I just realized sara's relationship with august is becoming linda's marriage with micke. from what we know of linda and micke, they were together while micke's alcoholism and addiction spiralled downhill, and they eventually divorced, although sara thinks her mother should have divorced micke sooner, because "he's a bad person who can't take care of himself, while everyone around him suffers for it." simon argues that she stayed with him to protect them and ensure they'd still have a home.

everything that we know about linda and micke's relationship and subsequent seperation is literally a direct parallel to sara and august. august might mean well when they first started properly dating, but he' s a bad person who relies on pills to cope with having to take care of himself alone, and starts bringing down everyone close to him during season one and two. sara originally thinks he's a good person, despite everything she knows he's done, and keeps his secrets to protect him, herself, and in her eyes, simon. even in their breakup, she should have left august sooner to avoid hurting her brother and her friends, but she thought she could protect all of them. she's becoming everything she hated about her parents' relationship, which is interesting considering she applied to be a boarder to escape the life she supposedly couldn't stand.

#this has been whizzing around my brain for hours so I'm subjecting it to all of you #young royals #young royals season 2 #young royals season two #young royals analysis #sara eriksson #august of årnäs #linda eriksson #micke eriksson

[sflow-er]

To August anon 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I don't know if you'll even see this as I've decided not to risk the backlash of putting it on the main tag, but I hope you do.

[Earlier posts: August anon 1, August anon 2]

I want to curate the discussion a bit now that you've shifted part of the focus on Sara. I don't share your position of liking both her and August for being 'morally dark' people, and I fear it may be a bit jarring to any Sara fans reading this. So I've decided to screenshot your message and put it under the cut instead of replying directly.

We disagree on some fundamental things when it comes to August's and especially Sara's characterisation, and I doubt we're going to reach consensus. But that's okay! I'm just going to explain some parts of my POV below, and then we can agree to disagree. There are also a few areas where we seem to be getting our wires crossed (e.g. what we mean by 'understanding' the consequences) so I want to clear those up.

Most of this rambling essay was written before the S3 trailer came out, so I'm not focusing much on the glimpses we see of them in the trailer. But I am still using the spoiler tags just to be safe.

CW: negative take on Sara (but the anon actually likes her); couple of suicide mentions

Okay so... I'm going to start by clarifying a couple of things:

Understanding vs. understanding

Infantilising vs. taking young age into account

When I talk about August and the consequences, I'm not saying he lacks the intellect or analytical thinking to know/predict them. I'm saying he lacks the empathy and relevant frames of reference to understand them. I think we're just using the word 'understand' to mean different things - maybe internalise, empathise or relate would be a better choice for what I mean by it?

To revisit my previous example, August as an incredibly privileged member of the elite cannot understand i.e. relate to Simon's experience as someone whose ability to make his own reputation and get by on his own merit has been permanently affected by the video. As a very confidently straight man, he also cannot relate to Wille's experience as someone whose non-straight sexuality, a deeply personal and private thing that he wasn't even done figuring out, has suddenly been exposed to the world and potentially even some homophobic hate.

I'm not saying this to infantilise, defend, or excuse August. I'm saying it because to me, it partly explains why it's so easy for him to dismiss the harm to Simon and see his betrayal of Wille as just a matter of loyalty - the only moral code he knows - instead of something that would've been wrong no matter who the victim was. It's a thought pattern that stems from his upbringing and worldview, and it would have to be dismantled for him to feel proper remorse. Which I think would probably take professional help at this point.

(I agree with you that August would be extremely prejudiced against Boris. A glimpse of him googling therapy providers or booking an appointment for after graduation might feel more realistic to me - but I guess it depends on what the writers want to do with him. We already saw very quick progress with Wille in S2 so it's safe to say they can take some liberties.)

I still believe that August will lose his social status in S3, likely towards the end. But it's fair that you don't, and the trailer is certainly edited to support your position. If he retains his status, then you may be right about him remaining the same old asshole! If he does lose it, then my original point about him likely not being resilient enough to cope with the consequences still stands. He is very much the kind of person to whom suicide is the "proud" way out compared to the shame of losing everything.

Now, the age thing.

Respectfully, I think you may be ascribing too much meaning to August and Sara being of age in S2 (note that Sara was still 17 when she made the deal with August in S1). Eighteen is the age of legal adulthood, yes, but it doesn't make them fully grown and mature adults in the (neuro)biological, psychological or social sense.

[This feels like a good point to say that I am not going to try to account for Sara's neurodivergence here. I definitely don't have the insight, so if anything I've written below is in any way inaccurate or offensive to persons with AuDHD, please let me know!!]

Firstly, it's important to note that that the human brain matures gradually and unevenly. The prefrontal cortex i.e. the 'reasoning centre' only matures in the mid-to-late 20s, while parts that handle things like right/wrong, risk/reward, and emotional responses (e.g. the amygdala) mature earlier. This can cause teens and young adults to struggle with things like impulse control, assessing the long-term consequences of their actions, understanding others' emotions, and rational decision-making in situations that trigger a strong emotional response. Reason can get overtaken by emotion on a chemical level; sometimes the young person can't even fully explain afterwards why they did something they rationally knew was wrong all along.

[I don't think August was in a particularly analytical state of mind when he decided to post the video. He was an intelligent but emotionally unstable and empathically challenged 18-year-old who felt like he had nothing left to lose and the only moral code he knew (i.e. loyalty) was obsolete. He was also still stewing in the emotional turmoil of his humiliation and likely stuck in a negative feedback loop. It feels very plausible to me that he could be in a very bad place for a pretty long time and still function enough to plan his revenge (more on the revenge part below).]

Secondly, both August and Sara have also had some pretty traumatic experiences (Sara's bullying, August's dad's suicide, the influence of both their dads while they were still in their lives). These may have impacted their emotional and psychological development in various ways and created some thought patterns. Not to play arm-chair psychologist, but I don't think it's a coincidence August's decision to post the video is related to his family estate and legacy, while Sara's decision to make a deal with August is related to the threat of being sent back to Marieberg.

[This feels particularly relevant for Sara, whose bullying was brutal and long-term enough for her to have to repeat a year. The negative attention on Simon after the video probably seemed less severe in comparison, and also like a 'first incident' (in fact, she might have even felt like Linda was applying a different standard to Simon's ordeal compared to hers by immediately wanting to take them both out of Hillerska).]

[I vehemently disagree with Sara's idea that the damage to Simon was already done and it wouldn't have made a difference whether he knew who was responsible, but I think it matters to some extent that she didn't know the history between Simon and August. To her, the video probably seemed like something that was mostly between August and Wille. That idea was likely reinforced by August consistently dismissing Simon's side of it - and also by Simon seemingly moving on with Marcus and no longer being the talk of the school after Christmas. This kind of rationalisation may have even made Sara feel better about pursuing a relationship with August in S2.]

[I also think Sara probably felt like she had the right to be selfish after everything she'd been through. Simon's support during her bullying wasn't conditional; she didn't feel like she "owed him" any sacrifices. It was clearly Simon's idea to follow Sara to Hillerska, and she may have even felt like he was hovering a bit (I doubt S1E1 was her first time saying she was fine now and he didn't have to be there). Then, Simon started to keep secrets and even see Micke for reasons Sara didn't know, altering the terms of their relationship, while Sara was finally daring to dream of things she'd been denied for so long. Friends, a better future, even romance. To her, it felt extremely unfair to have to give all that up and go back to a school that was a nightmare to her but not to Simon. Especially when her and Simon's lives weren't as intertwined anymore and she finally felt like she was gaining some agency in her own.]

Thirdly (circling back to the point about maturity), it's good to keep in mind that both August and Sara are still in the high-school phase of life. A phase when most people are a bit selfish, and their past and current dramas and dreams for the future are everything to them. They haven't really acquired much experience or long-term perspective yet. So I really don't think we can call them that much more mature in the social sense than, say, Wilhelm and Simon. They are still messy teens living their messy teen lives, shaped by their upbringing and limited life experience, all the while thinking they are basically grown adults.

So am I saying all this to infantilise August and Sara and excuse their actions? I'm sure it sounds that way; hence, not putting this on the main tag.

But the way I see it, to infantilise them would be to say they weren't responsible for their actions or didn't know what they're doing. They are responsible, and they do know. All the factors laid out above (and also in my previous August posts) explain their reasoning and actions to some extent, but they do not excuse them. The fact still remains that they both applied their best judgment and deliberately chose to do the thing that they knew was wrong.

You're right that they took time to consider their decisions in S1, although I don't think we can know for sure exactly how long August takes. The timeline is a mess at that point; he is still at the Palace wearing the same outfit when the others make their statement, and I doubt he could've been there overnight. But he does take several hours in any case, and although he isn't thinking rationally at that point, he still knows what he's doing is wrong. In fact, he does it with the sole intention of hurting others, which makes it all the more reprehensible.

I just want to caution against labelling him as some evil, fundamentally unfeeling mastermind. He's just a very selfish and immature young man with a very warped view of the world, who needs to see some consequences for his own sake as much as his victims'. I think part of the reason we saw him turn so soft with Sara in S2 was to underline that he is capable of empathy and caring; it's just a matter of unlocking those emotions. They haven't exactly been nurtured growing up, so he is only applying them to the people he deems "worthy", instead of all his fellow human beings. That selective empathy is another thing he seriously needs to work on, alongside the lack of accountability.

As for Sara, she takes several days to consider what to do about the video, which makes her betrayal of Simon more severe. But as explained above, it's so much more nuanced than her not caring about him. (Or indeed her being some poor victim who didn't know what she was doing and fell in love with The Devil! Don't get me wrong, August definitely let her believe she was guiding him in a better direction, which may have even pushed some Micke buttons in her subconscious and/or memories of Simon's insistence that everyone deserves a second chance... But she still made her own decisions and is responsible for them.)

It's easy to forget that we do in fact see Sara aware that her actions are wrong even before the end of S2. She looks conflicted/unsure when she and August make out in S1E6, cries when Simon earnestly proclaims "I like you when you are you" and "I'm trying to be your friend again because I need you" after she has just betrayed him, and again looks conflicted when the siblings talk about loving the "wrong person" in S2E5. She did some very selfish things and hid them for much too long, yes, but I believe her regret is genuine. It will take some skilful writing to make her and Simon reconcile in a way that makes sense, doesn't feel rushed or reduce her to an archetype, and doesn't just magic away her leftover feelings for August (as those will probably take some time to clear out). But I do have faith it can be done.

So I think that just about covers what I wanted to say. This isn't a comprehensive essay by any means, and I'm sure it won't go down well with everyone. I also don't expect it to change your mind about these characters, anon, and that's okay!

I mostly just wanted to push back on the notion that Sara and August being 18 means all their bad decisions are now on par with bad decisions taken by fully grown adults and their character development is now set in stone. I highly doubt the show will end with them both proudly standing behind their poor choices - I can certainly see August doing that if he doesn't see any repercussions, but not Sara.

In any case, thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view on these characters, and sorry again for taking so long to respond!

#yr but doesn't need to go in the tag #august horn #sara eriksson #sargust #august horn of årnäs #august anon discourse #yr analysis #young royals spoilers #yr spoilers #young royals speculation #yr speculation #young royals season 3 #young royals season three #yr s3 #yrs3 #young royals season 3 spoilers #yr s3 spoilers #yrs3 spoilers #tw suicide mention

[heliza24]

Analyzing the Sex Scenes in Young Royals (Using Cinematic Language!)- Part 2

(You can read Part 1 here)

Since people seemed to like my first post breaking down the intimacy scenes in Young Royals (thank you all so much for reblogging!) I thought I would write you all a part 2. We've covered a lot of the Simon/Wilhelm scenes already, so this post is going to branch out to include some of the other characters. Writing the first post helped me pinpoint all of the techniques that really make the Simon/Wilhelm scenes special, and I think we can learn a lot about the creators' view of a pairing by looking at the ways in which those cinematic techniques are applied, or omitted, in non-Wilmon intimacy scenes.

But first, let's do one Wilmon scene, because I can't write a post that doesn't include them at all. Let's look at the fish naming scene in 1.5. I think it's one of the most special scenes in the series.

I really like how the needle drop song that's underscored the lead up to this scene (Wilhelm coming to Simon's house, the girls setting up for their sleep over at Manor House) climaxes and ends while Wilhelm's looking around Simon's room for the first time. There's something about it that captures the excitement and anxiety of a new partner seeing your space for the first time. I think you can tell that Simon is cognizant of how small his room must be compared to what Wilhelm is used to. But we can also see how happy Wilhelm is to learn about Simon by being in his space.

The space itself looks inviting and cozy (as Wilhelm says) because of how softly it's lit. I talk a lot about the wonderful golden light in these scenes, and this is probably the best example of it. The strongest light is coming from the fish tank, which helps turns their discussion about the fish into a symbol for their connection. (This symbol reverberates all the way into season 2; Simon refusing to tell Marcus the fish's names tells us all we need to know about their connection, or lack thereof.) The fishtank is also our way into the heightened sound mixing that's present in all of their intimate scenes. You can hear the filter buzz. It's so quiet and not something that you would normally notice. It really pulls you into the closeness of the scene.

I love the way the music comes in right when Wilhelm kisses Simon's neck. It's such a gentle melody, and I think we've heard pieces of it in their previous intimate scenes together. There's also something really interesting happening in the camera work here. It's not unusual for the cameras in Young Royals to be handheld, allowing for some natural movement in shots. But here the camera seems to almost float. As Simon lets himself get carried away by Wilhelm's touch, the camera almost seems to do the same. It moves with the characters, almost becoming part of the choreography of the scene. It really emphasizes how powerful Wilhelm and Simon's connection is.

Ok, now that we've reminded ourselves of the gold standard of intimacy, vulnerability, and sexiness that is Simon and Wilhelm together, let's compare it to a scene that is decidedly not any of those things: Felice and August in 1.3, when she goes to his room to hook up after Sara embarrasses her and Wilhelm rejects her at parents' weekend. The first thing I notice here is that this scene is much darker than any other intimacy scene in the show. (Literally and figuratively, you could say). There's no golden light here, and shadows fall over Felice's face especially, perhaps reflecting her dark state of mind. Unlike in the fish scene between Simon and Wilhelm, the camera itself isn't moving with the characters; instead it is still, dispassionately observing. I'm fairly sure that the music here is used in other places in the show (it's the track Sun After Rain on the season 1 soundtrack); in my mind this melody is associated with scenes in classes and corridors and groups of students. This emphasizes to me that this hookup is less about feeling and more about social standing; Felice is doing this explicitly to regain her footing after begin rejected, and August has always wanted Felice because she is high status. The music also continues into the next scene, where Simon packs his bag to stay overnight at Hillerska with Wilhelm. That continuation of music doesn't happen with any other sex scene, and it emphasizes how unspecial, how unelevated the scene between Felice and August is.

Let's stick with August for a minute, and examine how different his scene with Sara in 2.3 is to his scene with Felice. No matter how you feel about Sara and August in the long run, it's pretty clear to me that the show wants us to believe in their emotional and physical connection in this scene. All of the techniques in lighting, music, and sound that elevate the Simon/Wilhelm scenes (and that were missing in the August/Felice scene) are present here.

August playing innocent and saying he "just wants to talk" when Sara walks in always makes me laugh, because Sir! Your shirt is off and your room is bathed in golden sex light (tm)! But to be serious, I love the way his room is lit here. It looks cozy and inviting in a way that we haven't seen before. And it lets us see him in a whole new, tender light (once again, literal and figurative). I notice the sound shifting around the time August confesses that he feels like "the worst person in the world" and Sara comforts him. At this point in the scene you can hear the rustle of her clothes and the way her hand makes contact with his chest when she touches him. And then the dreamy music starts. This is a different melody than what we've heard in past scenes, but it has the same shimmery quality of the scoring in Simon and Wilhelm's interactions. There's a rising scale embedded in the melody, which makes it feel airy and hopeful. I love that these characters get to be a little silly together, which to me is always evidence of great chemistry. They fumble with the condom but they're laughing together, not at each other. They're working as a team. Sara is right under the golden lamplight for most of the scene and she looks radiant. I'm not fully sure what to make of August turning out the light part way through the scene. In some ways I feel like it amps up the intimacy, pulling us and the camera in even closer so we can see what's happening in the dark. But it could also foreshadow the ways in which the palace's offer is about to corrupt August and ruin the potential of their relationship.

Let's circle back to Felice and Wilhelm and see what happens when the show puts them together in 2.3. This scene is fascinating to me because of the layers of conflicting emotion going on. The lighting in this scene is so interesting! There is a source of golden light: the lamp near the head of Wilhelm's bed. But it doesn't illuminate the whole space. It mainly hits Felice and not Wilhelm. Unfortunately I don't think we get enough Felice development to really know what she's thinking in this scene. But my read of her is that there is at least a small part of her that is genuinely attracted to Wilhelm, even if her logical brain knows that they would be better off as friends. Regardless, I think her feelings in the scene are a lot more genuine than Wilhelm's, who is fully projecting his feelings about Simon onto her. So I think it's significant that she's lit and he's in relative darkness.

The music is high and anticipatory and bright, but after Wilhelm restarts the kiss after Felice stops him, there's a surging bass beat that adds a feeling of danger and uncertainty to the scene. On a blocking level, I think it's very significant that Wilhelm puts Felice into a very stereotypical heterosexual position here, with him on top and her on the bottom. This feels forced and wrong after the more fluid, queer give and take of the Simon/Wilhelm scenes we've seen. (It also really contradicts my personal read of the characters. There are two wolves inside of each of us and one of mine wants to know what would have happened if Felice had ended up on top instead and Henry hadn't interrupted. The other wolf feels like even suggesting something that isn't purely Wilhelm/Simon is blasphemy. I contain multitudes). The transition back into the "real world" when Henry knocks on the door isn't quite as stark as when Malin interrupts Simon and Wilhelm in season 1. The music fades rather than cuts off. I think that reflects the messiness of the way they are caught. That shot of Felice running down the corridor is so chaotic- she wriggles past Henry and cuts across an otherwise perfectly composed frame- and it really makes me feel for her. All of her conflicting feelings and shame are so palpable. One of my big wishes for season 3 is a fulfilling intimate scene for Felice, because I feel so sad about her encounters so far.

That's all I have for now! I hope you found the comparison between Wilmon and the other pairings illuminating. If you have additional thoughts about these scenes I would love to hear them!

(And a little PSA: If you enjoyed me talking about the sex scenes in Young Royals you might also enjoy me writing sex scenes for our Young Royals fic Heart and Homeland. Even though it's an AU we tried hard to capture the sacred tenderness that we love in the show, especially in the Simon and Wilhelm scenes.)

#young royals #my meta #wilhelm young royals #simon eriksson #august young royals #sara eriksson #felice young royals #felice ehrencrona #prince wilhelm #cinematic analysis