fordearlife - Tumblr blog

[fordearlife]

Think about how in episode 2, when Wille is going off on August about August talking to Simon, and August’s response is “You’re not King yet”

It’s telling about August’s relationship to power that he doesn’t think people in general have the power to draw boundaries like: Hey person that posted my underage sex tape that I didn’t consent too - don’t talk to my boyfriend whose privacy and sexuality you also violated.

No the only person with the power to decide what August can and can’t do is the monarch

Also thinking about King August ten or twenty years down the line discovering just how little actual meaningful power the monarch has

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i love how wille went from telling simon the exact words his mother told him

“it’s a privilege not a punishment”

to telling his mom exactly what simon told him

“i’ve seen how it makes you feel”

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What I also love about the ending is that Wille escapes the cycle but the others haven’t. The Queen finally admits to how terrible the system has been for her. We see August grow apprehensive of the Titel he’s inherited. But unless he breaks out of it, it’ll continue forever. They all keep making the same mistakes for the sake of tradition. They insist on the importance of tradition and are miserable because of it. They perpetuate suffering. Wille grows and changes, questions tradition and the system upheld by it. And as a result he’s happy and free.

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(Source)

Here's why former crown prince Wilhelm will be able to live a normal life after renouncing his right of succession to the throne. 😂

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I thought I’d eat my snack outside because the weather is nice today

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All of Us Strangers (2023) // dir. Andrew Haigh

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Fuck hostile architecture, I want unhostile architecture. I want benches to be designed to be as easy as possible to sleep on. I want little places for pigeons to nest to be purposefully put on buildings. I want people designing public spaces to think about what they'd be like to skateboard on. I want "Please loiter" signs. I want people to be kind. I want...

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[fordearlife]

bathing in window sun prism light as redstarts flirt and dance below and my tomato plant wilts to an infestation of flies I can't ID

not everything everywhen thrives in the light but I do, now

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Portrait of a royal family

I love that Young Royals is the kind of show you can re-re-rewatch and discover new stuff every time, because of the care and attention that's gone into it.

For instance - what we learn about the royal family and Wilhelm's place in it, including the unspoken things.

First vision of the royal family, and we see that their space is not theirs. There are thirteen people in this room; courtiers and staff outnumber the family more than 2:1. The family is also divided, with Erik and the Queen (the current and future rulers) standing together attending to business, while Wilhelm and his father are seated and talking. Wilhelm is also separated from his father by the staffer standing between them while she covers up Wilhelm's bruises. There's an array of cosmetic products in front of them; this is something they take seriously, not just a bit of concealer. So not only is Wilhelm unable to lick his wounds in privacy, but the family wants to conceal his injuries; they can't show that he's hurting.  

The Queen's first interaction with her youngest son is all about the visuals. She grabs his face to check the makeup job; we don't know whether she actually checked the visible injuries before Wille sat down. It's as if he's a little kid. No boundaries. You could almost see it as an extension of their relationship in general; Wilhelm is at the age where teenagers test boundaries, and his mother is angry and maybe a little scared because of the dangers he's exposing himself to. In a non-royal house, this perhaps wouldn't be quite such a big deal.

Kristina's next act is to slap Wilhelm's hand out of his mouth when he's biting his nails, with an exasperated snap that tells us she's done this a lot and is tired of it. The end result is that everyone in the room witnesses Wilhelm being scolded. Even his "private" humiliation is not private.

What else does this scene tell us? It is not a comfortable, or comforting, environment. The chairs are straight-backed and gilded. The table is covered in the detritus of a working day - laptops, coffee - but it does not look like a convenient place to work. Everyone's quite formally dressed; staff in uniforms or office attire, Erik in his military uniform, Wilhelm and his father in suits, and the Queen in royal blue. Her jewellery is conservative-coded with its tiny pearls and cameo. Dignified, stately, not flashy; stiff; made for show, not comfort; old-fashioned. This is the world Wilhelm uneasily inhabits and has tried to escape.

The scene on the couch is excruciating for Wilhelm and clearly uncomfortable for everyone else. The family are not in harmony; there's not a moment when they all look in the same direction. Ludvig looks like he's thinking about his stamp collection or his stock options or what he wants for dinner. Erik is keeping an excellent neutral expression but his eyes keep moving to Wille, checking out his face and his nervous hands, monitoring how he's feeling. The Queen is also looking at Wilhelm, but it's a pointed look, expectant and also silently saying Get on with it, and don't stuff it up.

We learn more about the family when Erik and Wille arrive at Hillerska. Note that Erik is the one who drives him there, probably taking time away from his Crown Prince duties. Did he offer, knowing it would be easier for Wilhelm? Although he clearly cares about his brother, he's also trusted to do the right thing and deliver him safely. He's part of the apparatus that's setting Wilhelm back into place. (Erik, I think, is not nearly as much on Wille's side as much of the fandom believes; he's just the closest thing Wille has to someone on his side).

August, like the Queen, is all about the image - and grabbing Wille's face without invitation. He's also all about Erik. And I'm sure he's also very aware of all the faces watching them from the window behind them, and the press in front of them, but he sees it as an advantage. He doesn't care about the reality as long as the image is right.

Does Wille find it disconcerting that August and Erik are so closely bonded? Erik clearly intends Wille to think of August as another big brother, an Erik-substitute, but Wille's seeing that there's another 'little brother' in Erik's life and that Erik is leaning in to seeing August again at the moment when Wille needs him most.

August is letting down his guard here. I think this is the most natural, uncalculated reaction we get out of him all season.

Wilhelm is being almost squashed between August and Erik as they talk across him. Again, Erik barely pays Wille any attention while August is around. This would further alienate Wille from him.

And here we really begin to see that, as much as he loves his brother and his brother adores him, Erik is part of the machinery that grinds Wille down. Let's look at his lines in this scene:

He's lived through his own adolescence and his time at Hillerska, and he came around to the establishment way of thinking. Surely Wille will too. So he'll be understanding and kind, but like his parents, he expects Wille to knuckle down. He's not going to encourage Wille to dream of a life beyond the gilded cage.

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here's some parts of William Goldman's script for the never-produced movie The Sea Kings that sound like they should be from Our Flag Means Death

bonus more angsty one that I shared the last line of before

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OFMD 0nIyfans but it's just Fernando Frías biting into different fruits

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Can't even begin to explain how important it is to me that Stede is wearing this here. Arguably one of his sexiest moments, where he finally asserts himself, stands up to a bully (possibly for the first time in his life?), says "get off my ship" in a low, commanding, harsh voice, and he's wearing his frilly nightgown and silk robe. The very same thing he wore when CJ called him a "big gal" in the beginning of the episode. He is allowed (and deciding) to be himself while authoritative and self-confident, protecting those he cares about. I can't get enough of this it means so much

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a friend asked "what if Erik's death wasn't an accident" and I'd just like to file this shot under that theory

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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

[The Talking Cricket] insists that Pinocchio must either attend school or work to function properly in the world. When Pinocchio refuses to listen, the Cricket states, "You are a puppet and what's worse is that you have a head of wood", whereupon Pinocchio throws a mallet at the cricket, which kills him. (Wikipedia)