the ghost just has to identify himself as what he is.
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: The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Valet - and Heinrich/Grind
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. :)