i'm going to be fine. you can go.

i’m (slowly) working my way through the wilmon tag on ao3 and thought that as i go i might shout out some fics i enjoy along the way! i've tagged authors where i knew their tumblr url, but please feel free to tag folks or dm me if you know ones i've missed!

see all my rec lists here

1. Dear lover, I’ll fight whoever is in your locker by @piebingo - The girls are tired of seeing Wille and Simon dance around each other without doing anything about it. They decide to take be matchmakers and matters into their own hands, asking both boys out for them to go to the ball together, through a series of love poems. What could possibly go wrong?

2. my hand was the one you reached for by @prncewilhelm - on their third valentine's day together, wille and simon discuss their first.

3. We exist in each other's memories by @cupofteainme - Simon and Wilhelm haven't seen each other in four years. Felice hosts a Hillerska reunion party. Old feelings rise to the surface.

4. We're Not Made of Stone by @princewillesothermom - As Wille and Simon navigate Christmas break and their return to Hillerska, they learn more about not only each other, but also what it means to be themselves in the face of grief, family, and love.

5. Right Here by @earlgrey-lateatnight - That’s what this weekend was about. A last chance to hang out and relax and make love before everything had to change.

6. tell me what you'll do by @purplesimme - Playing cool his crush on Simon is one of the hardest things Wille has ever had to do, and he's a Prince, for Christ's sake. He should be better at pretending, but he fell so hard and so fast it all feels out of his control.

It’s monumental. He’s doing things for himself and not just for his relationship with Simon. That final look into the camera is him speaking directly to the audience saying: “Trust me, I’m going to be fine. You can go.”

1.01 | wilhelm has his agency snatched away from him as he is forced to go to hillerska which represents the monarchy (in a car) with erik who represents the system that ties him down, literally shown with the seatbelt that keeps him trapped

He approaches Simon in the library but keeps his distance, trying to hold the balance between telling him the truth (he feels empty) but clearly also struggling to find words that don’t inflict further pain on Simon. He’s trying to be honest but not manipulative.

At the party he doesn’t even approach Simon, even though he sees him. Simon has to go to him first, until Wille, clearly in pain, says yes to forgetting everything for the night. If Simon hasn’t gone up to him, I don’t think Wille would’ve approached him all night.

And then at the graduation, Wille only goes to Simon to say thank you for the song and let him go, repeating what he intended to do at the Valentines ball. He would’ve let Simon go, then and there, if he hadn’t realized that Simon doesn’t actually want to be let go off and that he doesn’t need to be the Crown Prince and can just… be Wille.

No one dare say Wille hasn’t grown or learned.