A letter to Simon Eriksson (and Omar Rudberg),

I knew I was going to write this at some point after Young Royals ended, but I've been putting it off because a) it'd make me emotional and b) I wouldn't be able to do justice to how I feel with words...but after the cast's goodbye video, here goes.

I am so, so, so grateful Simon Eriksson exists. Few characters have taken such a deep spot in my heart, but Simon is on that top tier of characters that I will always love so deeply. He is very important, not just to me, but I honestly believe his character existing is important for the media/world in general.

While I only recently started being more active in the fandom, I watched Young Royals just around when it first aired in 2021. What inspired me to watch the show was a clip online. It was Simon's iconic scene in the first episode where he says the monarchy is the country's biggest welfare receiver. And I was instantly hooked! Not just because I was absolutely shook at how beautiful Simon was, but also because of his personality that shined through. Brave, strong, defiant, and independent in the face of all the bullies. Simon is a phenomenal character period, but for him to also be a queer POC makes him even more special because we don't see it often on screen.

When I started actually watching the show, I got even more attached to Simon than I thought possible. The audience witnessed how loving, compassionate, and driven Simon was. I loved how we saw Simon's bravery in different ways throughout Young Royals. He was brave as he kept forgiving people and giving them second chances. He was brave because he kept his heart open to love even after being hurt. He was brave to put himself first when he needed to, even in the face of the royal family. He was brave to stick to his values in the face of all the exhausting bullying and archaic traditions of Hillerska. He was a snarky teenager but also mature beyond his years. He learned how to love others without losing himself. Seeing Simon be such a complex character and good human being made me fall in love with him.

Omar, I'm in awe at this being your first acting job. You are a natural, talented, and hardworking artist in every sense of the word. You have not only excelled and singing and performing, but acting too. Simon is Simon is because of you. You brought such heart and lovability to the character, as well as your beautiful voice. It is also clear that your compassion and empathy, which you were able to use to understand/play Simon as artfully and earnestly as you did, comes from your own experiences and your own identity. You're brave too, for daring to be yourself unapologetically. You've helped so many people.

Thank you to all the cast and crew as well, who played a primary role in making all the characters and this show into what it was. Your role doesn't get highlighted all the time, but you deserve much more credit for the acting, the characters, the ambience, and all the creative choices in Young Royals than audiences realize.

I'll love Simon Eriksson always. We'll keep making fan content and loving this show, thank you for trusting us with Simon now.

Love,

Brekkie

My first tumblr fic request for @manateia-seriallove, "Happy Birthday, Simon" is done! I had so much fun writing this.

"I mean, he'll twist your nuts off if you do that."

"What?"

"Okay fine, Simon won't because he's too nice and won't want to make you feel bad, but I will. Because you and I both know he'll be unhappy with it, even if he doesn't say anything about it."

Summary:

Wilhelm tries to find the perfect present for Simon's birthday and the gang throws a surprise party for Simon. Tumblr fic request which was meant to be a cute fluffy one shot, but it turned into this whole thing. Also some insight into how the gang spent their summers post-season 3.

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Send me any fic requests you may have! I'd love to write for them.

My first tumblr fic request for @manateia-seriallove, "Happy Birthday, Simon" is done! I had so much fun writing this.

"I mean, he'll twist your nuts off if you do that."

"What?"

"Okay fine, Simon won't because he's too nice and won't want to make you feel bad, but I will. Because you and I both know he'll be unhappy with it, even if he doesn't say anything about it."

Summary:

Wilhelm tries to find the perfect present for Simon's birthday the gang throws a surprise party for Simon. Tumblr fic request which was meant to be a cute fluffy one shot, but it turned into this whole thing. Also some insight into how the gang spent their summers post-season 3.

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And of course, send me any fic requests you may have! I'd love to write for them.

I had so much fun writing Smells Like Freedom, I think I'm gonna keep writing fics. Feel free to drop fic requests in my inbox if you want, I'd love to write for them!

Smells Like Freedom

Sooo...I did a thing and posted my first fanfic ever? It was quite stream of consciousness, and just a little oneshot of what our boys get up to after the series finale.

Smells Like Freedom

People who think simon was "manipulative" (INSANE word to use to describe Simon) or mean in season 3 watched the show with their eyes closed. And it also very much reveals how much conditioning you have to favor privileged characters when the enemy was *clearly* the monarchy. Nothing Simon did was malicious or manipulative- all his actions were understandable. Besides, the message was no one should have to fully change their personality at the hands of a toxic system- are people forgetting Wille fell in love with Simon BECAUSE of how opinionated and individual he is? If seeing what the monarchy did to simon makes you criticize simon instead of provoking sympathy in you, you missed the point of the show. That is a CHILD and he was often far mature beyond his years. And he shouldn't always have to be propping Wille up for you to see that- Simon is a character in his own right who was *also* struggling mentally beyond belief this season, not just Wille. If you sympathize with what Wille endures under the monarchy, why not what Simon endures? Because they were literally suffering under the same system.

Omar Rudberg's boba eyes were a paid actor in seasons 2 and 3 of Young Royals.

Sassy Simon my beloved.

can we just talk about how august is one of the most well-written antagonist characters in modern media? he’s done some unforgivable things but you still see him as human. he’s not just an evil person to make the storyline more interesting, he’s so much more complex than that. from a writer’s perspective i absolutely love his character and his storyline so much. also props to malte gårdinger for playing him so well. wow. just. wow.

Lisa, Edvin, and Omar - literally begging you guys to shut the fuck up. I can only handle so much

OMAR RUDBERG: ON HIS OWN TERMS

Omar Rudberg just made a post on Instagram confirming his queerness for what appears to be the first time while expressing his gratitude for Young Royals and all that it’s meant to him.

It’s such a graceful and eloquent post, it’s clear that he’s had time to consider every word.

Even better, he’s twenty-five, well experienced in life, and by all appearances, he’s chosen to share this side of himself from a place of comfort and confidence.

And as soon as I finished reading, I thought, This is what every person should have: agency.

Whether it’s one’s sexuality or gender or identity or self-expression, everyone deserves to have the dignity of choosing when and how they share these aspects of themselves with the world.

I only know Omar through Young Royals and his posts on Instagram, but he’s always seemed very self-possessed and compassionate. I remember when Kit Connor was relentlessly harassed into coming out at eighteen, Omar and Edvin were vocally supportive of him and the nonsense he was put through.

I’m glad Omar could do this on his own terms. He seems lovely, and with his wealth of talent and drive, he’s sure to be the focal point in a thousand ways on a thousand stages.

I am still so emotional with Omar's coming out post. I need to appreciate how we've seen that Omar has a personal connection with the story, how deeply he gets it. It comes through whenever he talks about yr, how attached he is, how he hypes up yr the most no matter how busy he is, how he has the queer perspective on the bad and good parts of being queer in this world; like how he was worried he would get jumped in Stockholm for being in young royals, but also how he knew before the rest of the cast that young royals would be a hit. I'm not saying straight actors can't play queer roles, I just love the added depth that came through in this instance of a queer actor playing a queer role. We love you Omar Rudberg, thank you for your bravery and for being our Simon.

The scene where the choir starts singing Simon's song instead of the og Hillerska song makes me so emotional. A lot of the show's classism/racism/prejudice is primarily shown through Simon's treatment, which I think as a fandom we often forget because it's become so normalized throughout the show. But think about it y'all- from day one Simon is bullied EVERYDAY day at his school for his socioeconomic class and values. That is EXHAUSTING, that slowly eats away at a person, and the fact that he manages to keep his sense of self throughout that at age 16 is impressive. And in season 3 that got compounded with the vulgar homophobic, racist, and classist hate comments he got from the public. He is constantly the one challenging that school's insane archaic and prejudiced values, despite the bullying. That school has NOT been kind to him, but when they sing the song that he was initially not allowed to sing, he sees that something he did at that school mattered. It did influence people, his bravery did change things. Simon Eriksson you will ALWAYS be famous.

does Simon Eriksson know how much he means to people...we need to find a way to tell him, clearly baby boy always cared about helping people, and season 3 confirmed that, with how much he talked about wanting to make greater change. Simon Eriksson when I tell you how many lives you've changed for the better-

Omar saying he felt different and he hoped one day he would feel "normal" like everyone else...baby you ARE different and it is the BEST thing about you. It's what we celebrate about you, and we are so happy to see how you have embraced every part of how unique you are in the version of you we know today. You are only going upwards from here, can't wait to see what you do next.