Latest Posts by zarogz - Page 2
flower power friday sunday!
Thank you so much for tagging me @grapehyasynth !!
In case anyone wants to join in on sharing flower /outdoor photo’s, no pressure!:
:D
@moonlightfrogsandkisses @hergrandplan @raincitygirl76
me as a writer
For fic reasons, I'm wondering how familiar people are with the royal families of countries other than their own (and other than the UK). I have randomly selected Belgium as the subject of this poll so please DO NOT VOTE IF YOU'RE BELGIAN.
Colour Study ✨️ Young Royals Wilhelm and Simon
{More Artwork | Socials and Prints}
Thoughts about Simon Eriksson below cut, responses in good faith welcome.
I’m thinking about Simon right now, because in the fic I want to write next, I want him to get in a fight with Sara, and I want Simon to be Wrong about what they’re fighting about. To clarify, Simon being wrong doesn’t mean Sara is 100% right—that would be boring, wouldn’t it? Anyway they’re 14/15 and 16 in this fic, so they’re a little younger, and it’s part of a canon divergent universe that goes in a very different direction from canon long before canon even starts. Sara is the main character. It’s her story.
So here’s the thing: I want fourteen-year-old Simon to be wrong and I want him to be a little petty and vicious about it and I even want him to be not a good brother to Sara for a time.
I actually like Simon a lot, even if I tend to write him mostly as a secondary character in my fics and not a main character. There is one fandom narrative about Simon, however, that isn’t personally appealing to me as a fanfic writer and fan, and that is the narrative of Simon as Perfect Martyred Angel Who Did Nothing Wrong Ever In His Life. I do enjoy Simon’s moments of moral clarity and maturity, and I do think the people around him sometimes take advantage of his patience with them.
On the other hand, I like that Simon is actually… imperfect and human and we don’t have to put him on a pedestal or wrap him in a soft blanket? Like he lies to Linda and hides his secret tutoring from her, he does things for Sara she doesn’t ask him to do, he sees Micke behind Sara and Linda’s back, he pulls Rosh and Ayub into a physical fight with August that they don’t want to be part of. And sometimes Simon is boldly speaking truth to power but other times he’s just being a little bit cheeky and provocative the way that teenagers can be.
In short, Simon can be as messy as many of his peers at Hillerska, especially in season 1, but hey, the rebound with Marcus in season 2 also counts! While individual instances of messiness can be more or less sympathetic depending on a situation, I feel people do Simon a disservice when they retroactively frame his entire character through the lens of the put-upon martyr. Also it’s just… less fun and more boring to me to view Simon as Always Right and Always Suffering.
On the other other hand, I also understand where some of the Saint Simon fanon is coming from. My theory—I think at least some of it is a response to an imbalance in the show’s writing (especially by season 3?) and how the writers drop threads related to Simon’s arc in season 1. I’ve talked in posts before about how the Simon-August conflict is totally dropped when it shouldn’t have been, and something should have closed the loop between them. I won’t elaborate too much on that, for now. I do actually feel that Simon and Sara’s conflict was effectively resolved in s3 but I also know there are still Sara haters out there in the year 2025 who think Simon should have left Sara to rot. So, you know.
In addition, enough critical-of-s3 fans have raised the idea (one I agree with, generally) that… Wilhelm is not always a great partner to Simon. A lot of folks see a narrative where Simon’s often taking care of Wilhelm’s feelings, but Wilhelm isn’t doing it in return for Simon. And then a lot of us are worried by Wilhelm’s anger issues and Simon bearing witness to them. I don’t know if this is an impression the writers intended to convey to the audience? Like I believe Lisa is on record as saying that the video stuff has died down and isn’t affecting Simon as much by season 2, but that seems to contradict what we see in s3 when Simon’s facing unprecedented internet harassment. I think the Wilhelm-adjacent pain Simon faces often gets swallowed up by Wilhelm’s pain. The writers find Wille’s pain pretty. I don’t think they realize how much they do.
Long story short, I think some of the Simon Did Nothing Wrong fanon is an attempt to respond to the part where the show does kind of neglect Simon’s emotional needs. And that’s valid. And I get it. And I know some people mean it in a tongue-in-cheek way whereas other people mean it in a much more serious way.
But on my end I kind of want to do right by Simon by letting him fuck up sometimes. Let Simon Do Wrong Things, and not even in a hot way! Because that is an interesting part of his character and I wanna explore it!
Anyway let me know if you’re open for me bouncing fic ideas off of you, I am in search of others who will discuss Nuanced Simon Eriksson with me.
Wilhelm might be clueless about social norms sometimes, sure, but he's always tried to make others feel included. Maybe it's partly because he's supposed to know how to with being a prince, or maybe it's because being a prince makes him feel non-included, but he tries.
It's through soft sentences, spoken with a laugh or distant interest, so they don't bring attention to himself or the situation itself, but he subtly tries to include people. We see him doing it the first time really in Season 1, at Parents' Day lunch, where he reassures Linda saying she doesn't know anyone with a simple sentence along the lines of "Well now you do." Right after that, he reassure Felice, when she's feeling clearly insecure, telling her he thinks she's perfect, not taking in account the next move of the girl (because he was clueless about the fact that Felice had a crush for him, yes, but also it's just considerate). Then way later, in Season 3, when they're joined by Rosh&Ayub&co at their camping trip, they're talking about the summer holidays. He knows how rare it is for Simon etc. to go travel around, since Simon has lectured him about his privileges over and over again when Wilhelm didn't take them into consideration. He senses Rosh's uneasiness about the fact that she said she was going to work that summer and that the Hillis directly went on with 'You've never been to the US?' and brag after brag over their fancy, all-inclusive holidays around the world as if money was a given. He sees it, and means well when he says he's also going to work that summer. Simon fairly tells him later that it's nowhere near what Rosh is doing, but at that moment it was clear to me that Wilhelm was just, albeit very cluelessly, trying to make Rosh feel included.
There's a few other moments like that scattered through the show, and I wish people took notice of it more, because it is such an important quirk of Wilhelm's personality. (Cluelessly considerate.) Of course it's an issue in some way, because he doesn't realize some very important details that make the situations so different, but he tries.
"What? Who-" The hand returns, Wille tries to pull his head away, the only thing he accomplishes with that is a stabbing paint that shoots through his skull.
"I'm Simon."
Kind eyes meet his own, the boy- no. Simon, is wearing a graphic t-shirt that hangs loose around his shoulders. His mouth is turned into a careful smile. Small silver earrings dangle in his ears and his curly hair is pinned up by a hair clip. One loose strand with two purple beads dangles next to his face.
"huh?"
Simon's smile turns into a grimace, "And of course your head hurts, I wasn't even sure if you were going to wake up." He picks up a machine from next to Wille's knees. "Now, keep your eyes open so I can scan them." A strong tan arm moves to his face.
His body can't seem to connect to his brain, because it doesn't move an inch while the machine gives off several bleeps and then blasts some kind of blue light straight into his irises. Is it physically possible to feel light bounce from your eyes into your brain? Because Wille definitely feels like he can.
It's over before he knows it, or maybe his furious blinking makes the scanning stop.
He lets out a groan and slowly pushes himself up, his biceps spasm and make him slump slightly forward. When he looks up, Simon's expression is cold. His eyes have turned to stone from where they are staring at the device, then they snap to Wille.
"You- what are you doing here?"
Chapter to of Ao3 When Two Worlds Collide is out :D!
Practice👉👈
💜✨.
All the birthday photos of young royals (as in, literally) I've seen in my feed recently really made me think about the fact there's a series of portraits of Wilhelm, depicting how he was growing up. Then they'll have this gala photoshoot for his 18th birthday and it will be one of those moments when he will think about Erik a lot, because he still remembers the day Erik turned 18; it was so special and also cool, because he's an adult now, and Wilhelm at 13 years old thought it's so far far away for him, and "at least there will be less fuss about my birthday since I'm not the heir". Next moment he's 18, his brother is gone for almost two years now, and he, in fact, does not feel as a cool adult.
Had to jump on this trend too
writing is hard but coming up with a cunty title and catchy summary will slay even god's strongest soldier
Sunday Tuesday Funday ☀️🍀🍄🌸 send this to your favourite blogs and ask them to share one nice thing that happened today as well as their favourite Omar picture (optional) 💜
Thank you for the ask!
I got a 9 on my exam and got to sign the contract/settlement/agreement(?) thingy today. So that was really cool! Hope your day was good as well :D
Betrayal, watercolour, 2024
Why is it so hard to write characters in character, every time I write a line I'm like, "would they say it like that? Wait, would they even say that at all?"
I'm going to fish my brain out Egyptian style and study it someday.
1.06 | 2.06 | 3.06
headcanon that wille lowkey 'enjoys' being ill more than simon:
Simon - he doesn't like it because he's used to taking care of others so not being able to take care of himself isnt fun and it frustrates the hell out of him but deep down, maybe the feeling of being taken care of is nice and relaxing.
Wilhelm - he likes being ill because when he was younger, it meant that his parents would dote on him more and he wouldnt have to beg for any attention. one of the few times that they show that they care.
Meeting the Erikssons
Another little roundup of YR observations, this time focusing on the main non-royal family and what we learn about them that's shown, not said.
Let's start with Simon and Sara on the bus.
Even this tiny little snip tells us so much. They're taking goofy selfies where they both look stupid, compared to the shots we see Felice later posting, which are all carefully posed and curated to present the most ideal version of herself and her life, to the point of untruth. These two are presenting their authentic selves, and they're unafraid to hide their affection for one another. Following on from their earlier dialogue we understand that they're used to relying on each other and to some extent feeling separate to the rest of the world.
Rosh and Ayub give us another important insight into Simon (and themselves) which becomes important later when August keeps warning Wilhelm that Simon, and non-elites in general, will want to get close to him, to use their proximity to get attention and favours. But Simon and his friends genuinely do not give a crap about Wilhelm at all (at this stage anyway). They're not even interested. They poke fun at the GIF of the fight and ask with mild curiosity if he's the loser they think he is, but that's it. Like August, they see Wilhelm as inhabiting a different world to themselves, but it's not one they aspire to or want to know about. Unlike someone else present...
The dinner scene, like the palace press conference scene, sets the tone for how this family lives and relates to each other and the world. The room is small, but there are lots of large windows which let in natural light and also show these people aren't hiding. The room is dark but there are a number of lights switched on - at least three small lamps as well as the big light over the table - which gives a warm glow. There are plants all over the place, not sedate formal flower arrangements but green houseplants spilling their tendrils down the walls. There are what appear to be postcards or just small pictures on the walls haphazardly. It's a warm place filled with growth and life.
Ayub is staying for dinner; he's helping lay the table, which indicates he's a familiar face here, more family than guest. However Sara has to teach him the "correct" way to do it, which shows us that Ayub's own family don't do the formal dinner thing and also implies that Sara has only recently started being so specific about dinner etiquette.
And they're informal enough as a family that Simon can swear in front of both his mother and their guest. (Also, continuity error: there's already spaghetti in the bowls when Simon brings the pan in, but in the next shot they're empty).
Sara complains about the way Simon chews, and asks her mother to sit up straight in a reversal of the traditional mother-teen daughter dynamic, to the point where Linda even rolls her eyes a little.
While the boys snicker by Sara's new poshness, it shows us again how casual the Erikssons are that Sara can talk money, and Linda can reprimand her, in front of Ayub.
Sara scorns the 'diverse' crowd at her old school, but she kind of has a point - IF you define 'amounting to something' as economic success and can overlook her bluntness. Later when Simon tells Ayub and Rosh that he doesn't want to stay in Bjärstad all his life, things get a little awkward. Rosh and Ayub seem to be happy to stay there. Both Eriksson siblings aren't, but they have very different attitudes about where they want to be and how they want to get there. Simon wants to stand out with his talent and good grades; Sara wants to blend in by taking on as many signifiers of the elite world as she can.
A few other things that struck me rewatching this:
Sara is the only one using both a fork and spoon to twirl her spaghetti. Everyone else is just eating straight from the fork.
Simon asks his mother how her day was, showing a little of the 'man of the house' role that later becomes more obvious
Sara isn't incorrect. The cheaper items do wear out quicker. it's the Sam Vimes Boots Theory.
And we still have one more Eriksson to meet.
This scene is heartbreaking. And Micke's surroundings again tell us about him and his circumstances. It's noisy in his building. There are multiple locks on the door - he doesn't feel safe, probably because it's a high crime area.
From the way Simon glances around, it could be the first time he's actually been in this apartment. The couch is disheveled with a messy blanket - Micke sleeps there. There's a framed picture leaning against the wall, implying Micke either hasn't finished sorting his place out or doesn't have the room for all his stuff. Also, THERE IS A LITTLE BASKET OF SATSUMAS - did Simon pick up the taste for them from his dad?
(Another little thing that links the two of them - they both have artwork depicting faraway cities on their walls. Simon has a London poster, his dad has New York.)
Piles of mail, the TV remote, cigarettes and lighter and Micke even has the gas gun from the stove in here. Is that because he's sometimes too uncoordinated to flick the lighter cleanly, I wonder.
There are plants here too, but they're not doing well. They're straggly, not thriving. The apartment's disorder is of course reflected in Micke himself, unshaven, bloodshot eyes and crumpled grubby clothes. You can almost smell him.
The way they hug is uncoordinated. Micke desperately wants the contact with his child, but neither of them is used to it, they don't know how to fit together.
This was the first scene that made me marvel that that this was Omar's first acting job. Heartbreaking.
Sometimes a writer that I really look up to comments on my fic, and every time it just feels like 'Omg, hi. So, hello. hihi, well, yeah. I will give you my first born child, and also omg hello.'
changed
me when someone who has been nice to me every single time we've interacted is nice to me:
omg... you dont hate me?....
Sunday Snippet
I have survived the last week and a half! (Somehow). And I come bearing a snippet from a now completed, slightly-longer-than-it-was-supposed-to-be 'experimental oneshot'. I just need to edit the mess offline mode made of my document, but hopefully I'll get to share it soon. (People following the progress of the childhood friends fic will also be pleased to know that I've been working on that too.)
-
With intent, Felice chucked the cardigan she was holding in her hands at Nils. He squawked and lifted his arms to protect himself, spilling water everywhere in the process. “What the fuck was that for?” he cried, shaking his wet hair out of his face and laying the glass down on the table. “Fuck’s sake, Felice. I’m all wet now.”
“You asked Simon?” she demanded, rounding the table and sitting down in the armchair opposite them.
Nils wiped his hands on his t-shirt and sent her a scathing look. Very used to Nils, Felice just glared back at him until he sighed. “Yes. I asked Simon. So what?”
“So what?” Felice’s voice went shrill and Wille felt like he might be missing something.
“Yeah,” Nils said. “So what.”
“So,” Felice said, slowly and deliberately. “Simon is off limits.”
Nils scoffed and leant back into the sofa again. “Not any more, he’s not. He got rid of the dead weight didn’t he? Free as a bird. And therefore back on the table.”
“Nils,” Felice said, her tone warning. And then, for some reason, her eyes very pointedly moved to Wille and back to Nils. “That wasn’t why he was off limits.”
Sunday Snippet
I have survived the last week and a half! (Somehow). And I come bearing a snippet from a now completed, slightly-longer-than-it-was-supposed-to-be 'experimental oneshot'. I just need to edit the mess offline mode made of my document, but hopefully I'll get to share it soon. (People following the progress of the childhood friends fic will also be pleased to know that I've been working on that too.)
-
With intent, Felice chucked the cardigan she was holding in her hands at Nils. He squawked and lifted his arms to protect himself, spilling water everywhere in the process. “What the fuck was that for?” he cried, shaking his wet hair out of his face and laying the glass down on the table. “Fuck’s sake, Felice. I’m all wet now.”
“You asked Simon?” she demanded, rounding the table and sitting down in the armchair opposite them.
Nils wiped his hands on his t-shirt and sent her a scathing look. Very used to Nils, Felice just glared back at him until he sighed. “Yes. I asked Simon. So what?”
“So what?” Felice’s voice went shrill and Wille felt like he might be missing something.
“Yeah,” Nils said. “So what.”
“So,” Felice said, slowly and deliberately. “Simon is off limits.”
Nils scoffed and leant back into the sofa again. “Not any more, he’s not. He got rid of the dead weight didn’t he? Free as a bird. And therefore back on the table.”
“Nils,” Felice said, her tone warning. And then, for some reason, her eyes very pointedly moved to Wille and back to Nils. “That wasn’t why he was off limits.”
this line right here!!!
i wish you guys could read the amazing fic i haven't written and probably will never write, it's fire
my contribution to the wilmon clinginess discourse is that I think wille is more of a general -but less intense- clingy person; he likes having simon close to him all day long. he likes keeping some kind of physical contact with him random times of the day; a hand on simon's back, sealing any kind of conversation with a small kiss, hugging simon for no reason at all random times of the day just to recharge, holding his hands with both of his own like their his to safekeep.
simon, while less clingy on a general basis, is soooo much more clingy than wille on an occasional basis. canon examples of this are the palace scene in 3x01 or the final scene in the car in the finale, moments where (at least to me) simon appears more emotional and clingier.
outside canon, I think sick simon would be vastly clingier than sick wille. in the mornings wille spends as much as he can admiring simon and giving him featherlight kisses and caresses before simon wakes up, but when it comes to actually getting out of bed, it's simon that complains the most about missing wille's warmth. last example... definitely their wedding/engagement day!!! I just know that boy is gonna be an absolute mess and he's gonna cling to wille like a koala bear...
they're both really clingy people, but wille is just always somewhat clingy; simon however reserves his clinginess for special occasions but when he does become clingy he's outright insufferable and disgusting with it
Now I'm not saying that JD Vance killed the Pope, per se. I just think his actions raise some questions, like for example: Did JD Vance kill the Pope?
