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cahnETA: Whoops, I missed my cue -- this might as well be the next discussion post, I guess! :)
This is about the fic I didn't author (I have another reveals post for the fics I did author).
So my goal this Yuletide was NOT to write any historical fandom (because hard!) and just enjoy the excellent stuff that other people wrote. And... that sort of happened? I didn't end up authoring anything history-intensive? Buuuuut I ended up spending a lot more time than I did on any of my own fics working withmildred_of_midgard on her fic, which she was worried about being able to pull off because she had had this completely insane idea to write a long casefic about Frederick the Great that every time I turned around had another twist put in :P :) She supplied me with what we called a "rough opal in matrix" bus pass casefic, and I cut away the matrix that remained and in some cases carved the opal -- that is to say, writing additional text for some of the scenes, what we liked to call "putting in feels," and in at least two cases entirely rewriting and/or restructuring the scene she'd written. She didn't always keep what I wrote (which we'd agreed upon in the beginning), but when she did (which was most of the time :) ) she then went in and rewrote/restructured what I put in to wordsmith (some of the words I gave her were really rough) and match her style, adding even more scenes -- that is, polishing it up and adding some gold and diamonds -- and voila, a beautiful pendant, I mean, story :)
I'm really proud of it and also it was really fun and also what I could handle this year, especially because mildred did all the parts I thought were hard and also wrote all the parts involving actual history or subtle AU before I was brought in so I didn't actually have to know historical stuff (though I guess I will never forget the battle of Leuthen now), and took full responsibility for how the whole thing turned out, so all I had to do was be like "Here, I'll write some rough feels for you for this scene!" The funny part was that I would often then write a paragraph justifying why I *had* to write the scene the way I did, and more likely than not mildred would be like, "yeah, I was sure you would do that, of course it should be written like that." (The most glaring example of this was where I inserted the Letter of Doom at the climax. I was worried there was some reason she didn't want it there, but she said, no, she just didn't have time to put it in herself and was just trusting me to do that :) ) She started jokingly calling me her "other self," to which I replied that it was with 1000% less angst and frustration -- as Frederick the Great's brother was his "other self" (which actually comes up in the fic) that he could trust to do all kinds of competent things, but they had a relationship that was, um, fraught? radioactive? Whereas this was just fun :)
Mildred did so much more than I did (we estimated a 90%/10% word ratio, not even counting the part where she wordsmithed a lot of my text) that I felt very uncomfortable being listed as a co-author, but hey, ~3000 words is a respectable Yuletide fic length :)
Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small (30384 words) by mildred_of_midgard
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Anna Amalie von Preußen & Wilhelmine von Preußen, Anna Amalie von Preußen & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen, Wilhelmine von Preußen & Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia
Characters: Anna Amalie von Preußen (1723-1787), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802), Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1732-1780), Wilhelmine von Hesse-Kassel (1726-1808), August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Alcmene 1 | Frederick the Great's Italian Greyhound, Voltaire (Writer), Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, Suicide, Alternate Universe - Dark, Siblings, Canon-Typical Violence, Mystery, Tide of History Challenge
Summary:
This is about the fic I didn't author (I have another reveals post for the fics I did author).
So my goal this Yuletide was NOT to write any historical fandom (because hard!) and just enjoy the excellent stuff that other people wrote. And... that sort of happened? I didn't end up authoring anything history-intensive? Buuuuut I ended up spending a lot more time than I did on any of my own fics working with
mildred_of_midgard on her fic, which she was worried about being able to pull off because she had had this completely insane idea to write a long casefic about Frederick the Great that every time I turned around had another twist put in :P :) She supplied me with what we called a "rough opal in matrix" bus pass casefic, and I cut away the matrix that remained and in some cases carved the opal -- that is to say, writing additional text for some of the scenes, what we liked to call "putting in feels," and in at least two cases entirely rewriting and/or restructuring the scene she'd written. She didn't always keep what I wrote (which we'd agreed upon in the beginning), but when she did (which was most of the time :) ) she then went in and rewrote/restructured what I put in to wordsmith (some of the words I gave her were really rough) and match her style, adding even more scenes -- that is, polishing it up and adding some gold and diamonds -- and voila, a beautiful pendant, I mean, story :)I'm really proud of it and also it was really fun and also what I could handle this year, especially because mildred did all the parts I thought were hard and also wrote all the parts involving actual history or subtle AU before I was brought in so I didn't actually have to know historical stuff (though I guess I will never forget the battle of Leuthen now), and took full responsibility for how the whole thing turned out, so all I had to do was be like "Here, I'll write some rough feels for you for this scene!" The funny part was that I would often then write a paragraph justifying why I *had* to write the scene the way I did, and more likely than not mildred would be like, "yeah, I was sure you would do that, of course it should be written like that." (The most glaring example of this was where I inserted the Letter of Doom at the climax. I was worried there was some reason she didn't want it there, but she said, no, she just didn't have time to put it in herself and was just trusting me to do that :) ) She started jokingly calling me her "other self," to which I replied that it was with 1000% less angst and frustration -- as Frederick the Great's brother was his "other self" (which actually comes up in the fic) that he could trust to do all kinds of competent things, but they had a relationship that was, um, fraught? radioactive? Whereas this was just fun :)
Mildred did so much more than I did (we estimated a 90%/10% word ratio, not even counting the part where she wordsmithed a lot of my text) that I felt very uncomfortable being listed as a co-author, but hey, ~3000 words is a respectable Yuletide fic length :)
Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small (30384 words) by mildred_of_midgard
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Anna Amalie von Preußen & Wilhelmine von Preußen, Anna Amalie von Preußen & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen, Wilhelmine von Preußen & Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia
Characters: Anna Amalie von Preußen (1723-1787), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802), Elisabeth Friederike Sophie von Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1732-1780), Wilhelmine von Hesse-Kassel (1726-1808), August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Alcmene 1 | Frederick the Great's Italian Greyhound, Voltaire (Writer), Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, Suicide, Alternate Universe - Dark, Siblings, Canon-Typical Violence, Mystery, Tide of History Challenge
Summary:
January 1758. Prince William is dead, some say of a broken heart. Frederick wants to absolve himself of blame for William's death. Henry schemes to end the Third Silesian War on his terms. Amalie and Wilhelmine team up to find out what really happened to their brother. Alcmene just wants to be told she's a good dog.
Re: Fritz Mystery Affliction January 1736
Date: 2021-01-16 01:09 pm (UTC)Rheinsberg
Date: 2021-01-16 01:36 pm (UTC)Here's to year two!
(We also have a couple birthdays for key antiheroes in our fandom coming up in the next few days.)
Re: Rheinsberg
Date: 2021-01-16 04:06 pm (UTC)And Mildred, you're exaggarating - just think of all the Katte execution (and Katte family) posts of yours! The Keith family contributions (Peter specifically)! Suuuuuhm!
re: birthdays, zomg, so we do. Both of them.
Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 04:11 pm (UTC)I think you (selenak) can see how this got to be 30k!
Oh, lol, I'd forgotten Louise. Yeah, you can see how I'm a long-fic writer by nature.
her idea to put in Amalie's Mental Health Day was brilliant and I'm really glad to have it :)
I'm really glad it worked out! As you can see (selenak), it was added very late in the process (only the Voltaire scene was added later, I think), because the fic was just being brutal to Amalie, and she kept taking everything in stride like she was Hercule Poirot investigating the lives of strangers and didn't have stress-related illnesses or anything, when canonically she did, and that was without Fritz being assassinated in 1758 and Wilhelmine dying with Amalie at her bedside!
So I wanted a way to give the reader some sign that Amalie is struggling, and also give her some hurt/comfort (hence the Louise idea). The Tiergarten (poor former administrator Peter Keith is dead, alas) was perfect in allowing me to introduce her adopted waifs and give Frau Fredersdorf a plot-advancing cameo!
Which reminds me: I am almost SURE that you told us that Amalie had an interest in anatomy, but I couldn't find it when I went to research it. I kept her bird dissection lesson for the kids anyway, as it was too good not to include, even if I dreamed the part where her interest was canon. Is my memory correct?
Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 04:21 pm (UTC)Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 04:24 pm (UTC)Anyway, I really enjoyed combining the two and having her remember the time she impromptu dissected a bird for the kids. I like to think for at least some of the kids she would have been the Cool Aunt. :)
Re: Loyalty gesture tropes
Date: 2021-01-16 04:31 pm (UTC)Okay, so the only posted fic I can think of where I did this was in Hunger Games fandom. I will spare you reading the 120,000 words (it's in the penultimate scene, of course), but here's the line in question:
Mags sits on the couch and Finnick kneels at her feet, because it's the only way his body can communicate the intensity of I will do anything for you.
The context is that she's just had her stroke and can't talk any more, and he's all HOW CAN I HELP. The two of them have a Fritz/Wilhelmine type relationship in my fic: codependent, nonsexual, but borderline emotionally incestuous. (I guess not literally incest, since they're not genetically related, but ykwim.) At the very end of the series, Finnick will retrospectively question whether this was healthy, but at this point--end of the first installment--he's all in.
Speaking of whom, I still don't know why I can't seem to warm up to Wilhelmine in this fandom. I should be right there for the intense, supportive, codependent, abuse-surviving sibling relationship! I have at least two other sibling pairs in my head that are exactly this (one is an OC that exists only in my head, the other is Boromir and Faramir). I've written two fics featuring her and read her memoirs and her bio and I *still* can't summon up any feels for her. I'm very confused. I'm trying, guys! Maybe when I get to French and read her letters it will help.
(Ditto Fritz/Fredersdorf: given my Childermass and Childermass/Norrell feels, I should be *all over* this ship. Furthermore, I recognize that as important, supportive relationships go, it's far superior objectively to all of Fritz's other relationships. But only thanks to you guys writing me fic have I advanced beyond "meh" to "Okay, yes, I want to see more of this.")
MY BRAIN I do not understand it.
I think I prefer it when the character performing the gesture has complete and undivided loyalty and love for the recipient.
Fair enough! Yes, that's really different.
Yeah, that's why I never put this gesture in the right places for you unless you tel me to. :)
Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 05:01 pm (UTC)Okay, yes, that's what I was thinking.
Which presumably the dog could do as Fritz has gotten good at reading his dogs. :)
Plus it helps that this isn't the first ghost, so he's at least got some context.
(Also he or rather she could wear a knitted cheery Christmas outfit!)
OMG, a dog in an 18th century Christmas sweater equivalent, that's HILARIOUS. :D
Fritz: I care about keeping my dogs warm! See also the last order I ever gave.
Btw, what would be the worse shock in your opinion - finding his tomb to be sans dogs and with Dad in a church, or seeing a victorious French guy who's stolen his thunder as the biggest event in 18th century military matters and beaten Prussia stroll around there?
Ooof. Probably the second one? He would be unhappy about the burial thing, but he didn't believe in an immortal soul, and part of the whole plan for a simple burial was "I have lived like a philosopher and I wish to be buried like a philosopher." So I think he would recognize it was more symbolic than actually significant. Not that he wouldn't be pissed off!
On the other hand. No, wait, I changed my mind. Fritz would have total schadenfreude over Prussia's defeat after his death. This is the guy who cared far more about outshining his predecessors and successors than about preparing FW2 for the sake of Prussia.
...This whole thing is just going to confirm in Fritz's mind that FW2 was the worst, and clearly FW3 (who was king during and for the decade leading up to the great defeat) was also unworthy, and only Fritz was right and should be in control of all the things.
And yes, I think Fritz would find a way to give FW2 50% of the blame for the defeat, for laying the groundwork by undoing all of Fritz's hard work. This is Fritz we're talking about. Remember, he "could complain in some regards about [Katte], and I do not believe to have wronged him," and I have an unsourced quote from a fairly reliable secondary source in which Fritz calls Katte "maladroit", presumably for screwing up the escape attempt.
And even if he left FW2 out of it, it's going to be super easy to blame FW3 and reinforce Fritz's conviction that he's always right.
Honestly, I really have a hard time seeing any of these visions convince Fritz to do anything but double down on being an autocrat. Doubling down was Fritz's specialty. The only thing I can think of that *might* work as a wake-up call a la Ebenezer Scrooge is first reminding Fritz of his "Sterbekittel" days, and then showing him the Holocaust, Nazi propaganda in his name, and how he got cancelled after 1945, before gradually being partially rehabilitated. (You could make a case for the Crown Prince days being the past, the wars he led as King being the present (even if chronologically some decades ago), and the 20th century being the future.)
And I don't know if you would feel up to writing that story and handling it sensitively, but it would definitely be tricky. Not that me finding a story beyond my skills has ever stopped you, O Great Author of our fandom. :)
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 05:05 pm (UTC)Re: Loyalty gesture tropes
Date: 2021-01-16 05:09 pm (UTC)BTW, one of the hopes I had when reading the "Zeithain" novel, which after all had been advertised as the first Katte-centric take (which it is), was to get a hand on who he was outside of his death context. In the hopes that I'd come to feel more for him beyond being sorry (and eternally angry on his behalf at FW). But alas Michael Roes distracted me too much with his Daddy issues for that, i.e. his decision to triple the number of Evil Dads by adding Hans Heinrich and the father of his OC Philip Stanhope to it.
Since you bring up "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" - since that nearly overlaps with our era, time wise, I must say that I now want the AU where, disregarding the exact date when magic returns to England and pushing it a bit more back, the 7 Years War is fought with added magic. Seydlitz is a magician, clearly. Andrew Mitchell is, too, but doesn't have much practical talent, just enough for it to come in useful now and then, but he keeps it secret because he likes being an envoy far better than if he'd have to use his little magical talent for the government. Fredersdorf was a magician (this is how he could do so many jobs at the same time). Fritz very much wanted to be a magician, but alas, he's not (though he knows how to use them). Voltaire and Émilie: both magicians.
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 05:12 pm (UTC)Fredersdorf's facial expression is pure gold, that's hilarious.
And yes, wow, I see what you mean about Sanssouci needing a paint job back in the day. Well, it probably needed one toward the end of Fritz's life anyway. ;)
The King's love could be deadly, is all I'm saying.
For those who don't recognize this line, it's a quote from biographer Burgdorf, reviewed by Selena here.
Fritz's facial expression, OMG! Saxony, you are going to GET IT. These are great, thank you. :) And they made wonderful icons!
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 05:19 pm (UTC)But Fredersdorf losing weight in his later years, probably related to his health issues, is interesting. Noted for fic purposes!
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 05:27 pm (UTC)Definitely, but not yet in early 1756! Incidentally, it didn't escape my notice they never show the entirety of Pillnitz, either, though they keep showing the (indeed very beautiful) waterfront with the stairs, which makes me conclude that Pillnitz used to look run down in the 1980s, too, not like today when it is restored to full beauty.
Trust you to recognize Burgdorf's pretentious line in its full pretentious glory. :)
Fritz's facial expression, OMG! Saxony, you are going to GET IT.
Yes indeed. That's why Nadasty made the right call when returning Biche to Fritz unharmed instead of letting his wife keep her. Who knows whether a single Pandur would have survived otherwise!
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Date: 2021-01-16 05:30 pm (UTC)Fredersdorf: Will see to it, but why are we still in Sanssouci when it's now autumn of 1756 and we've taken most of Saxony except Pirna and Königstein?
Fritz: Because the producers got permission to film here, and by God, they're going to film here.
I'm still laughing about this, weeks later. At least Ekaterina, fearsome and furry beasts notwithstanding, has him hypothetically in Dresden during the war! Where it was actually filmed, of course, I can't say, not being someone who can tell Dresden vs. St. Petersburg apart.
Glasow: *is a middle aged overweight man*
What.
Fritz: *dictates instructions - in Sanssouci - that if he's shot, the invasion should proceed anyway, and if he's kidnapped, any instructions from him thereafter are to be ignored*
Do we know if he gave these orders during the Seven Years' War? I recognize them from 1741, definitely, but am not sure if that was an order he repeated. (Relevant to the fic where he gets captured and Voltaire has to rescue him!)
Italian Greyhound not named out loud*: *dies*
Fritz: REVENGE!
It's a testament to your writing, or the series, or Fritz's personality, or my status as a dog-lover, or something, that my first, second, and third reactions were to think "Revenge for my dead dog!" and only belatedly remember that this was an attempt on Fritz's life, too.
Epilogue scenes in quick montage: *Fritz wins at Prague, loses at Kolin, but doesn't have a melt down because he's too manly and tough for that but says he'll win again in the next one, wins Roßbach and Leuthen after dramatic speech, cut to end of 7 Year War which the narrator tells was was a few years later*
Well, that's...one way to tell the Seven Years' War. A few uneventful years later, in which Kunersdorf and its aftermath definitely didn't happen.
Enjoyed this and the screencaps very much!
Re: Loyalty gesture tropes
Date: 2021-01-16 05:37 pm (UTC)BTW, one of the hopes I had when reading the "Zeithain" novel, which after all had been advertised as the first Katte-centric take (which it is), was to get a hand on who he was outside of his death context. In the hopes that I'd come to feel more for him beyond being sorry (and eternally angry on his behalf at FW).
Yeah, based on your review and what I've read (it's still on my list for when my German is slightly better!), it does seem disappointing in this regard. Alas. Thank you for your extensive research on my behalf in spite of not having deep feels! <3
Fredersdorf was a magician (this is how he could do so many jobs at the same time).
And the alchemy!
Fritz very much wanted to be a magician, but alas, he's not (though he knows how to use them).
Awww. Does he at least have a fairy servant? Magician or no, I feel like he would acquire one somehow.
Voltaire and Émilie: both magicians.
YES. YES, this.
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Date: 2021-01-16 05:55 pm (UTC)Middle-aged, overweight Glasow: I see several possibilities:
a) It's in the original novel this thing is based on. And a Polish 19th century novelist wouldn't necessarily know what Glasow looked like. Lehndorff's diaries - where such details are mentioned, thank you, Lehndorff! - haven't been published yet. I have no idea whether Preuß or Carlyle, either of whom could have been the author's source material, would have mentioned this. If all the author knew was "Fritz' valet accused of trying to poison him", he might have made an honest mistake.
b) It wasn't in the original novel, but the casting of the tv series saw no reason this guy should be young and good looking. They already had two young and good looking guys playing the OCs of the last two eps, and Glasow could be played by a much cheaper older character actor. One had to save budget money somewhere!
c) It was a deliberate decision because no one wanted the viewers to wonder why Fritz had hired him in the first place. Yes, the script has Countess Brühl make an insinuation as to why Fritz wants Simoni around him, but that can be dismissed as idle enemy gossip.
Do we know if he gave these orders during the Seven Years' War? I recognize them from 1741, definitely, but am not sure if that was an order he repeated.
I don't know for sure, honestly. We do have the letter to Heinrich he wrote before the battle of Zorndorf which is basically "if I'm killed, you're regent - make sure everyone takes the oath to our nephew, and battle on in my name, and definetely do not go for a cheap peace!", but I don't recall instructions about what to do when he gets captured in it. Then again, during the 7 Years War he told everybody and their Catt that he wouldn't get captured because he'd kill himself first, so....
Well, that's...one way to tell the Seven Years' War.
I know, right? I mean, on the one hand, I get it. The emphasis in this overall story is on Saxony, and once it's obvious the Prussian occupation is there to last for the war, that's that. Saxony will never be seen as a rival power again. But it still feels like a weird, hasty wrap up compared to what came before, and like I said - the handling of several characters, including Brühl who is a main character, is just odd, with the off screen end of their story and not even a proper exit.
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Date: 2021-01-16 06:01 pm (UTC)Preuss mentions the age, though! He's the source of the petition! Where we discover he was 22, contra Blanning's 20.
Glasow could be played by a much cheaper older character actor. One had to save budget money somewhere!
Heehee! Could be.
Then again, during the 7 Years War he told everybody and their Catt that he wouldn't get captured because he'd kill himself first, so....
True, true. Also, lol at "everybody and their Catt." You are the funniest, Selena!
Re: Fritz Mystery Affliction January 1736
Date: 2021-01-16 06:13 pm (UTC)Re: Fritz Mystery Affliction January 1736
Date: 2021-01-16 06:19 pm (UTC)Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 06:37 pm (UTC)However, on a more serious note I agree the shock of Nazi propaganda and the Holocaust would do it. If you want to have a look at how Nazi propaganda using Fritz looked like, check out this scene of a vile example in question if you can bear to. It's from Der Große König, aka the "keep fighting, Germans, never mind that setback in Russia!" propaganda film, directed by Veit Harlan, who was a very efficient director for melodrama who also had started a second line in propaganda movies. (Jud Süß was the other.) Harlan had good actors at his disposal (including Otto Gebühr, who was the most popular Fritz actor of his day and had been since Weimar Republic movies made him loved in the role), and the whole thing is effective propaganda because it does use just enough recognizable historical elements to work on people vaguely remembering their school lessons while at the same time utterly distorting them. The scene in question, which is set post-Kunersdorf, goes roughly thusly:
Heinrich: ...we're fighting other Germans here. Do you really want the HRE to go?
Fritz: The HRE is a bankrupt institution which has to go. I'm all for German unity, but the Habsburgs have lost their right to lead it by promoting "many blooded" people in their empire along with Germans. It's a shame we've got to fight other Germans in order that a future Empire led by Germans can be founded, but historical destiny must unfold. BTW, you're now an ex Generalissimus, I'm taking command back. Shame we don't get along better, Heinrich.
Heinrich: Is if you'd ever had fraternal feelings in your life. ("Wann hätten Sie je brüderliche Gefühle gehabt" isn't paraphrase but a direct quote.
Fritz: *burns last will*: If I'd died at Kunersdorf, this document would have made you regent, I'd have entrusted it all to you. Good thing I didn't.
Heinrich *looking at the burning document*: You'd known all about shoving a brother aside and destroying him.
Fritz: I am A Great Man Of History, and you're those elements in the army who dare to doubt Great Men And Their Strategies. Watch me chew out my other generals next.
Generals: Your Majesty, we're screwed and should sue for peace.
Fritz: *asks all the famous generals, from Seydlitz to Ziethen, and not one is ready to side with him on continuing the fight*
Fritz: You're all wrong, and I'm right. We'll fight on. History will prove me right.
The Worst Fanboys, Watching: Harry Truman is totally going to write that fanboy letter any time now...
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 06:41 pm (UTC)Re: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
Date: 2021-01-16 06:44 pm (UTC)Haha, okay, that I could see! That would be awesome: Fritz being "nice" canonically and not involving a 180 from his normal personality.
Was totally thinking of Otto Gebühr and Stalingrad, yes. Ugh. Fucking worst fanboys. I endorse your crackfic idea!
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: PICSPAM
Date: 2021-01-16 06:45 pm (UTC)Fritz, FW2, and A Christmas Carol
Date: 2021-01-16 07:30 pm (UTC)Uh huh. I don't think Fritz is upset enough about Jena-Auerstedt to reverse his treatment of FW2.
Also, in pasting your summary of FW2 to Rheinsberg this morning, I was reminded that you'd commented on the difference in the English and German wiki treatments of FW2. Did you notice the banner on the English one reading, "This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: tendentious bias towards militaristic evaluation of frederick william"?
Fritz: That's my tendentious bias, thank you very much. Can I interest you in my opinion on my no-good, money-wasting, flute-playing grandfather?
Re: Fritz, FW2, and A Christmas Carol
Date: 2021-01-17 11:09 am (UTC)BTW, while Voltaire writing to Madame Denis he's got a soft spot for Fritz' badmouthed Granddad while proofreading the Histoire de la Maison de Brandenburg is inevitably one of the doctored 1750 - 1753 letters, I can't see any advantage in him inventing that observation post facto, so I'm guessing that observation was one he actually made back in the day. And I do wonder how Fritz reacted...