Indeed, this is exactly why I keep ending comments with "I'M SORRY YOU NEVER GOT THAT THERAPIST, FRITZ!" It's soooo obvious why he could never chill. :-((( His amygdala was in clear overdrive his whole life. (Effects of trauma on psychology is one of my major interests. And "therapist" is shorthand for "the better solution would be to not have the trauma in the first place, because once the damage is done, it's really hard to fix the coping mechanisms.")
What's painfully poignant is remembering how he named his favorite palace "Carefree"*, lived a workaholic life there, pointed to his intended grave site and announced, "I'll be 'sans souci' when I'm there," put a group statue of deities of flowers and soft breezes next to his grave, and proceeded to work and micromanage and stress until his body gave out and was 205 years later put in the "carefree" place.
Fritz: I know! I'll relax and listen to some music stand behind the conductor and read over his shoulder while I backseat drive the entire time.
These are the words and actions of someone who lived in constant tension between wanting to chill occasionally and literally *not knowing how*.
* Somebody on tumblr pointed out that he basically named it "Hakuna Matata", which is...not wrong. But they missed the part where it was an unrealized ideal for him.
It is, and even more in French, because it's "Castor", and yes, that was meant as a mythological pun
Yep, first thing I did was go look up what "beaver" was in French, and thought it was cool. :D I keep trying to come up with a mythological nickname for Katte, but all my favorite m/m pairings would be just waaaay too heavy-handed on the foreshadowing. Pirithous? Pythias? Pylades? Patroclus? The parallels are way too close. However, remembering how fond Fritz was of giving historical Roman nicknames to all his friends, I'm starting to look in that direction and am having some ideas.
Re: Fredersdorf
Indeed, this is exactly why I keep ending comments with "I'M SORRY YOU NEVER GOT THAT THERAPIST, FRITZ!" It's soooo obvious why he could never chill. :-((( His amygdala was in clear overdrive his whole life. (Effects of trauma on psychology is one of my major interests. And "therapist" is shorthand for "the better solution would be to not have the trauma in the first place, because once the damage is done, it's really hard to fix the coping mechanisms.")
What's painfully poignant is remembering how he named his favorite palace "Carefree"*, lived a workaholic life there, pointed to his intended grave site and announced, "I'll be 'sans souci' when I'm there," put a group statue of deities of flowers and soft breezes next to his grave, and proceeded to work and micromanage and stress until his body gave out and was 205 years later put in the "carefree" place.
Fritz: I know! I'll
relax and listen to some musicstand behind the conductor and read over his shoulder while I backseat drive the entire time.These are the words and actions of someone who lived in constant tension between wanting to chill occasionally and literally *not knowing how*.
* Somebody on tumblr pointed out that he basically named it "Hakuna Matata", which is...not wrong. But they missed the part where it was an unrealized ideal for him.
It is, and even more in French, because it's "Castor", and yes, that was meant as a mythological pun
Yep, first thing I did was go look up what "beaver" was in French, and thought it was cool. :D I keep trying to come up with a mythological nickname for Katte, but all my favorite m/m pairings would be just waaaay too heavy-handed on the foreshadowing. Pirithous? Pythias? Pylades? Patroclus? The parallels are way too close. However, remembering how fond Fritz was of giving historical Roman nicknames to all his friends, I'm starting to look in that direction and am having some ideas.