(sometimes) sadness

"And what better event than a fundraiser for throwing that reality in August’s face and causing him to panic?"

I had never thought about this!! Mostly because I hadn't thought about parents' day being essentially a fundraiser, so thank you for pointing that out!

"making August’s work visible in a way that almost feels like a faux pas to people of his class. You aren’t supposed to think about how the tables ended up in the right place, they should just be in the right place when you arrive for lunch. Årnäs isn’t supposed to need repairs or modernizing or maintenance because the point is preserving a timeless legacy that never changes."

This is also really fascinating, because 1) I remember the tension in that lunch scene when August is talking about Årnäs, I do feel like the adults in that scene are kind of looking down their noses at the idea of him idk... caring so much about working on the estate in this way? Will be interesting on my rewatch to pay attention to this. And 2) because August is not someone I think of as doing the dirty work! But it actually really does track with his character, of pushing himself so hard doing extra workouts before practice for example. He's not just in it for the aesthetic or clout of being on the rowing team, he's doing the hard work to excel at it. It also makes me think of him pushing back in S2 when Vincent yells at Simon after they lose the rowing competition - in a rare show of kindness(??) August says the whole event is about building camaraderie, not winning. Which yeah I think speaks to a desire in August for genuineness.... which also I think contributes to him being so attracted to Sara, who is very straightforward with him, and doesn't hide behind fake politeness when she interacts with him, like almost everyone else in his life must.

Anyway wow thank you for inspiring some interesting August Thoughts!! Hopefully something in this stream of consciousness made sense.