Had To Jump On This Trend Too

He had the spirit :,)

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.

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.

💜✨.

Forgot about this one :)

favorite office moments

I just found this on Insta and it's amazing! Check out Legopathie - there's more than just these!

changed

The smile that has worked its way on Simon's face drops the second he spots a familiar figure hovering on the curb in front of their house. All the chatter around him drowns out as he locks eyes with his dad. 

Every fiber in his body stands on alert, surely Micke will get the hint that this is not the moment to hop by for whatever reason he deems necessary.  

He doesn't.  

His dad's face lights up a tad, and Simon hopes with everything that he has that Micke is sober. That there are no faint traces of cigarette ash on his sleeve, that his eyes aren't bloodshot, that he smells of sandalwood and tangerines instead of the sour odor of alcohol and sweat. 

or:

After a short road trip, Wille and Simon settle down in Bjärstad. Wille is in the midst of meeting Simon's extended family when a certain someone shows up, uninvited.

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Post S3 oneshot of how Wille meets Micke! Read on ao3 - Wrestle Your Love Out Of My Heart