Frederick the Great, discussion post 6

[cahn]

...I think we need another one (seriously, you guys, this is THE BEST) and I'd better make it now before I disappear into the wilds of music performance.

(also, as of this week there are two Frederician fics in the yuletide archive and eeeeeeeeeee)
(huh, only one of them is actually tagged with Frederick the Great even though two with Maria Theresia and Wilhelmine, eeeeeee this is awesome I CAN'T WAIT)

Frederick the Great masterpost

Comments

Re: Lehndorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

Okay, well, go Fritz, I guess? Definitely an improvement on Dad. yes. Still room for a little more improvement, but part of that is 18th century mores.

Also, since Fritz has a "nobody gets to diss my father but me" thing going, if I were Catt, I'd be very unsure how the obvious comment - "how cruel!" would be taken.

Very true, I would nod and look sympathetic and keep my mouth shut. Touchy monarch, touchy subject, one month of knowing him. (I've repeatedly been advised by other people to keep my mouth largely shut with Fritz, except when he solicits commentary, and let him do most of the talking.) But there are other, less controversial things you can say without commenting directly on FW, like, "How sad," and no.

Plus Catt is always keen to find ways to challenge Fritz's jerkery to other people, and he also adds his own commentary in the memoirs of things he didn't say to Fritz, such as that "And then I thought maybe he was in such a bad mood because of the nightmare, but god knows I didn't say this to him." But nothing on Katte. Just one sentence where Fritz is all "See how enlightened I am, I didn't punish anyone involved in 1740," and Catt says, "Only the great ones know how to forgive and forget," clearly feeding Fritz the exact sentence he wants to hear, and that's it from Catt on the subject, Back to marching itineraries.

And clearly, hugging the King is out. (Unless you're Fredersdorf?)

Yeah. I really wish Fredersdorf had been alive and present when SD, AW, and especially Wilhelmine died. You can see Catt doing the best he can, and obviously better than Fritz did with Heinrich or the other siblings, but he's floundering in a way that I can't imagine Fredersdorf would after twenty-seven years of intimacy. Also why I wish Fredersdorf had been there at Soor, and not just because he would have fought off the Pandurs singlehandedly organized the bejeezus out of the camp so it was in a defensible state when they showed up. Fritz needs a hug.