- Alternate universe #1 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
Definitely the sappiest one: Fritz and Katte (and Keith, although so far all of his scenes have been cut, sigh) make it to England. Fritz marries his cousin Amelia as part of his grand plan to get England to back his triumphal return to Prussia. Of course, not all is sunny, since Fritz is worrying about SD and Wilhelmine*.
* Oh, speaking of, I ran across the direct discourse of FW's threats, which I had quoted a paraphrase of recently: "Your mother would have suffered enormously, because I would naturally have suspected her of having knowledge of the affair; your sister I would have locked up for life in a place where neither sun nor moon would have shone; I would have marched into Hanover with my army and put everything to the torch and sword, I might have had to sacrifice my own life and country. See that [would have been] the fruit of your Godless and unthinking behaviour."
Anyway, because this is a sappy fic, Fritz is tolerably friendly with Amelia and consummates the marriage, but he's still a gay boy in a political marriage he'd rather not be in, so he goes running back to Katte on his wedding night, and they read poetry aloud about how they're actually mostly all-intents-and-purposes married to each other, and it's lovely. <3
- Alternate universe #2 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy.
The Count Rothenburg fic! Not that Count Rothenburg, selenak, his less well known French cousin the envoy to Prussia. (And yes, that was confusing to me at first.)
Rothenburg in canon: - Hated FW and also tried to get the hell away from him for several years. - "14-yo Fritz for King! FW for insane asylum patient!" - Fritz spied on FW for Rothenburg, using an intermediary to avoid suspicion. - Very cultured/educated/sophisticated guy. - Wilhelmine says Katte was an intimate of Rothenburg, and credits Katte's unusual-for-Prussia sophistication to Rothenburg's influence. - In 1730, Fritz may have been trying to escape to Rothenburg's estate on the border of France. - May or may not have married late in life (my sources contradict each other), but definitely died childless.
So this AU practically writes itself. Fritz and Katte make it to Rothenburg's estate, Keith joins them from England, Fritz is disinherited, Rothenburg plays surrogate father to exiled Fritz. Canonically, Rothenburg dies "très riche," childless, and possibly never having been married, in 1735, and his wealth gets divided between his two sisters. My little-details question is about what and how much he can legally leave to Fritz. Since no one seems to know (I miss the days when that community was super active), will have to handwave so that the answer is LOTS. (I mean, if no one knows, no one can call me on it!)
Playing with the idea of giving Rothenburg homosexual inclinations. There are many reasons one might die unmarried!--if he even did, some of my sources give the name, pedigree, and date of marriage of his wife, which is extremely specific for someone who in other sources is stated never to have married--but he's kind of a stand-in for my other never-married wishful thinking surrogate dad candidate for Fritz, namely Eugene of Savoy. At any rate, he's going to be a sexually open-minded French noble and he's going to ship my ship and make sure my boys are happy.
- Alternate universe #3 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
Katte talks Fritz into toughing it out at home instead of trying to escape, promises to help as much as possible, convinces him it'll be okay. To keep FW from getting suspicious about their relationship, they decide to play up the "Katte as good example" angle. Katte starts giving him one-on-one lessons in things like improving his horsemanship and shooting and fencing, to impress FW, while making these things that Fritz has to do anyway more bearable. It's not a great solution, but it's better than nothing.
And as Fritz's skills start improving (because he's marginally more willing to put in the effort), Katte starts dropping hints that Fritz does great with positive reinforcement. He can do this because his dad is one of FW's BFFs. That's actually how we got here in the first place.
Katte: Hey, Dad, can I be in charge of the Crown Prince's lessons, since I'm such an exemplary officer and he likes me? Katte senior: Well, I certainly have no objection to my son being in a position of influence with our future monarch. I'll ask. FW: Anyone who can get my wretched offspring to cooperate even a little bit has my thumbs up. Fritz: I don't have to like it! I will complain constantly! Katte: Remember, we don't want him sending me away like Keith. Fritz: ... Fritz: Okay, but you have to let me talk about my new favorite author Voltaire the WHOLE time. And as much touching as we can get away with. Katte: Win-win? I don't see anything not to like here. :D
- Alternate universe #4 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
This is the darkest one, and the increment is very small. This is the one where Seckendorf or someone convinces FW that keeping Katte alive means a permanent hostage for Fritz's good behavior. So any time Fritz tries to get away with something, Katte's whipped or starved or otherwise punished. And he's kept in solitary confinement at Küstrin with the threat of execution always hovering over his head like Damocles' sword, just stayed indefinitely at the pleasure of the King. Then FW dies and Fritz pardons Katte within 60 seconds of becoming king. They haven't seen each other in 10 years (Katte hasn't seen anyone except his rather sympathetic guards and chaplain.)
This one kind of wants to develop into a *thing*, but for my "5 Things" fic I think it'll just be 4 scenes: Fritz and Katte's POVs in November 1730, when Katte isn't killed, and Fritz and Katte's POVs in May 1740, when Fritz is preparing to free Katte but can't let on because what if FW gets better (the guy canonically was on his deathbed numerous times in the last 20 years of his life and kept getting better) and decides he'd better kill the prisoner while he still can? So Fritz does the best he can for Katte without Katte understanding why his treatment is suddenly better in surreptitious ways.
But in any case, this fic seems to want to be about the post-1740 period, when Katte's freed and he and Fritz have to work out their PTSD together and rebuild a relationship after 10 years of being separated yet constantly linked by trauma. So if I ever flesh it out, it'll be about that, not about the whipping boy decade (small blessings).
- Alternate universe #5 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
Re: Alternate universes where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
- Alternate universe #1 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
Definitely the sappiest one: Fritz and Katte (and Keith, although so far all of his scenes have been cut, sigh) make it to England. Fritz marries his cousin Amelia as part of his grand plan to get England to back his triumphal return to Prussia. Of course, not all is sunny, since Fritz is worrying about SD and Wilhelmine*.
* Oh, speaking of, I ran across the direct discourse of FW's threats, which I had quoted a paraphrase of recently: "Your mother would have suffered enormously, because I would naturally have suspected her of having knowledge of the affair; your sister I would have locked up for life in a place where neither sun nor moon would have shone; I would have marched into Hanover with my army and put everything to the torch and sword, I might have had to sacrifice my own life and country. See that [would have been] the fruit of your Godless and unthinking behaviour."
Anyway, because this is a sappy fic, Fritz is tolerably friendly with Amelia and consummates the marriage, but he's still a gay boy in a political marriage he'd rather not be in, so he goes running back to Katte on his wedding night, and they read poetry aloud about how they're actually mostly all-intents-and-purposes married to each other, and it's lovely. <3
- Alternate universe #2 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy.
The Count Rothenburg fic! Not that Count Rothenburg,
Rothenburg in canon:
- Hated FW and also tried to get the hell away from him for several years.
- "14-yo Fritz for King! FW for insane asylum patient!"
- Fritz spied on FW for Rothenburg, using an intermediary to avoid suspicion.
- Very cultured/educated/sophisticated guy.
- Wilhelmine says Katte was an intimate of Rothenburg, and credits Katte's unusual-for-Prussia sophistication to Rothenburg's influence.
- In 1730, Fritz may have been trying to escape to Rothenburg's estate on the border of France.
- May or may not have married late in life (my sources contradict each other), but definitely died childless.
So this AU practically writes itself. Fritz and Katte make it to Rothenburg's estate, Keith joins them from England, Fritz is disinherited, Rothenburg plays surrogate father to exiled Fritz. Canonically, Rothenburg dies "très riche," childless, and possibly never having been married, in 1735, and his wealth gets divided between his two sisters. My little-details question is about what and how much he can legally leave to Fritz. Since no one seems to know (I miss the days when that community was super active), will have to handwave so that the answer is LOTS. (I mean, if no one knows, no one can call me on it!)
Playing with the idea of giving Rothenburg homosexual inclinations. There are many reasons one might die unmarried!--if he even did, some of my sources give the name, pedigree, and date of marriage of his wife, which is extremely specific for someone who in other sources is stated never to have married--but he's kind of a stand-in for my other never-married wishful thinking surrogate dad candidate for Fritz, namely Eugene of Savoy. At any rate, he's going to be a sexually open-minded French noble and he's going to ship my ship and make sure my boys are happy.
- Alternate universe #3 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
Katte talks Fritz into toughing it out at home instead of trying to escape, promises to help as much as possible, convinces him it'll be okay. To keep FW from getting suspicious about their relationship, they decide to play up the "Katte as good example" angle. Katte starts giving him one-on-one lessons in things like improving his horsemanship and shooting and fencing, to impress FW, while making these things that Fritz has to do anyway more bearable. It's not a great solution, but it's better than nothing.
And as Fritz's skills start improving (because he's marginally more willing to put in the effort), Katte starts dropping hints that Fritz does great with positive reinforcement. He can do this because his dad is one of FW's BFFs. That's actually how we got here in the first place.
Katte: Hey, Dad, can I be in charge of the Crown Prince's lessons, since I'm such an exemplary officer and he likes me?
Katte senior: Well, I certainly have no objection to my son being in a position of influence with our future monarch. I'll ask.
FW: Anyone who can get my wretched offspring to cooperate even a little bit has my thumbs up.
Fritz: I don't have to like it! I will complain constantly!
Katte: Remember, we don't want him sending me away like Keith.
Fritz: ...
Fritz: Okay, but you have to let me talk about my new favorite author Voltaire the WHOLE time. And as much touching as we can get away with.
Katte: Win-win? I don't see anything not to like here. :D
- Alternate universe #4 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
This is the darkest one, and the increment is very small. This is the one where Seckendorf or someone convinces FW that keeping Katte alive means a permanent hostage for Fritz's good behavior. So any time Fritz tries to get away with something, Katte's whipped or starved or otherwise punished. And he's kept in solitary confinement at Küstrin with the threat of execution always hovering over his head like Damocles' sword, just stayed indefinitely at the pleasure of the King. Then FW dies and Fritz pardons Katte within 60 seconds of becoming king. They haven't seen each other in 10 years (Katte hasn't seen anyone except his rather sympathetic guards and chaplain.)
This one kind of wants to develop into a *thing*, but for my "5 Things" fic I think it'll just be 4 scenes: Fritz and Katte's POVs in November 1730, when Katte isn't killed, and Fritz and Katte's POVs in May 1740, when Fritz is preparing to free Katte but can't let on because what if FW gets better (the guy canonically was on his deathbed numerous times in the last 20 years of his life and kept getting better) and decides he'd better kill the prisoner while he still can? So Fritz does the best he can for Katte without Katte understanding why his treatment is suddenly better in surreptitious ways.
But in any case, this fic seems to want to be about the post-1740 period, when Katte's freed and he and Fritz have to work out their PTSD together and rebuild a relationship after 10 years of being separated yet constantly linked by trauma. So if I ever flesh it out, it'll be about that, not about the whipping boy decade (small blessings).
- Alternate universe #5 where everyone is at least incrementally more happy
TBD. Stay tuned!