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Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 22 (or: Yuletide 2020 edition)
ETA: 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 with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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:
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.
Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Brühl (now played by a man in his 40s): The last episode ended in 1730, and now it's 1733, since August has just died in Warsaw. I still look 24 years older. Just go with it. I am the J.R. Ewing of the Rokoko age, your main character for the next two eps, and now I have to bring the news of August's demise to his son, future August III., who is in Dresden.
Sukowski: I started out as a page as well but am future August III.'s bff. Clearly, that means I get to rule once my bud is King, because he likes me best. I have nothing to fear from Brühl, who can do the financial stuff. I'm a military man! Hey Brühl! Back from Warsaw?
Brühl: Sadly, our glorious King has died.
Sukowski: OMG we have to tell my buddy!
Brühl: Clearly he shouldn't get such sad news without emotional support. How about getting his wife and his confessor so they can break it to him gently? Also, I must get out of these travel cloths and wear something appropriate for such news, see you later with the other two.
Sukowski: That's actually a good idea. Okay, see ya!
Brühl: *gets a page* Tell young(er) August you've seen me, but not that I sent you.
Brühl: *is summoned by August the soon III while Sukowski is still busy tracking down the wife and the confessor*
Brühl: *tells August the soon III. the news, is there for him*
Wife, Confessor, Sukowski: Arrive too late.
Sukowski, when the other two take over: But I thought we were to tell him together?
Brühl: Sorry, I was summoned, I didn't even have time to change. But I swear I have no ambitions. You are the only one for PM, clearly!
August the soon III: So you're going to be my PM, Suko, but you, Brühl, you're going to be my second most important minister.
Brühl: If I must.
Brühl: *has sex with the Countess Moscynska, daughter of August the Strong and Anna Countess Cosel*
Brühl: *during sex*: Your father was the coolest, I am actually sorry that he's dead, and I'm so into you not just because you're hot but because you're his daughter and that of the one and only Cosel*
Brühl: *after sex*: So did I mention that your Dad is who I want to be?
Moscynska: You're lucky we're into kink in this family. Well, you can't be him, but you could totally be the power behind the throne.
Brüh: That'll do.
Watzdorf: I'm an idealistic enlightened thinker, writing pamphlets against the corruption at court, especially as practised by the two ex pages Sukowski and Brühl.
(
Franziska: I'm a young naive, totally in love with you.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee: We're two civil servants, one of us going to become Sukowski's minion, one Brühl's. We sort of deliver the economic commentary on events from now on.
Maria Josepha: I'm August the now III's wife, Mt's cousin and thus a proud Habsburg and very Catholic.
Guarini: I'm the confessor from earlier, and the evil priest of the remaining episodes. I scheme.
Sukowski: So, I have plans for Saxony. The Austrians are really going downhill in this decades. Isn't Silesia a nice province next door? We should totally invade it!
Maria Josepha: What?
Guarini: And that's why we should back the other one.
Maria Josepha: But is that Brühl more reliable? Isn't he a Protestant?
Guarini: We should marry him to a Catholic lady. Doesn't your Bohemian lady-in-waiting here have a daughter named Franziska?
Franziska: But I love Watzdorf! Brühl, I know you're into Mosczynska, can't you let me be with my true love?
Brühl: Not if I want to continue my career, darling. Not giving up Moscynska, though. I'm afraid our engagement is on.
Watzdorf: *is busy writing more pamphlets against Sukowski and Brühl*
Sukowski: I'm punishing the printer.
Brühl: Pff. I'm buying the printer and bribing him by making him the official court printer. What's that you say, minion, my fiancee and Watzdorf? Well well well. Do tell Sukowski's minion in strict confidence Watzdorf is about to launch an exposé on Sukowski's Silesia plans!
Sukowski: *arrests Watzdorf, puts him into Königstein*
Franziska: Fine, I'll marry you, if you promise to help me to set my beloved free and avenge myself on that bastard Sukowski.
Brühl: Naturally.
Episode 4: Brühl (II):
Sukowski: So, about Silesia. I think that's absolutely brilliant plan of mine, and history will prove me right, you'll see.
Brühl: Maybe we should try to get it politically instead? Seeing as our army isn't anywhere near as large as the Austrian one?
Sukowski: You're not a military man, Brühl, you don't understand. Here are my secret plans to explain it, though, while I'm off to fight for the Habsburg Emperor against the Turks. We're still subjects to the Emperor, after all, so I can't deny the request.
Brühl: *makes copy of the secret plans, and gives them to the Austrian envoy*
Vienna: WTF?
Maria Josepha, Guarini, Brühl, all in their respective ways to August III: Sukowski got you in a hell of a lot of trouble with the Emperor with these Silesia plans. He needs to go.
August III: I'm just into art and building palaces, can't we all be nice together?
Everyone else: No!
Meanwhile, on the front:
Sukowski: Hello there. You seem a trustworthy veteran. Let's be friends.
Rosen: By all means. You should be careful.
Sukowski: Eh, the King loves me. I'll always stay on top!
Rosen: I've heard that before. Countess Cosel is still at Stolpen.
Sukowski: I'll make August release her when I get back, he's completely unlike his Dad.
Sukowski: *gets a letter that he's dismissed as PM*
Sukowski: WTF? *rides home, manages to see August III despite Brühl's precautions*
August III: I just want peace and love, can't it stay as it was?
Everyone else: NO.
Franziska: So, husband, if I seduce August III who unlike his father has been a loyal husband so far and make him banish Sukowski, will you then see to it that my beloved Watzdorf is released from Königstein?
Brühl: Naturally.
Brühl: *tells minion that he wants Watzdorf to be freed, but phrases it in a way that makes it very clear what really should happen*
Minion: *tells sub minion to do go to Königstein*
Subminion: I don't think this will end well for me, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Other civil servant minion: Sukowski, the only thing that can save you now is if we get the dirt on Brühl. Maybe that Watzdorf who used to write the pamphlets knows me? I'm off to Königstein to find out.
Watzdorf: *is thrown of the walls of Königstein as a free dead body*
Brühl: Sukowski did that.
Franziska: I'm not THAT naive. Also I'm going to have sex with every handsome young guy who comes my way from this point onwards in revenge on you, but not with you, you bastard.
(
Brühl: That's okay, dearest, Moscynska and I are still an item, anyway.
August III: Brühl, you're now my only minister and bff and everything.
Brühl: Yay!
Episode 5: From the time of the 7 Years War (I):
Brühl: So, I've been thinking. Silesia got unfortunately nabbed by Fritz of Prussia, but Saxony can still end up as a superpower by diplomacy, since he's been pissing off everyone else in the last decade. I' have this brilliant plan of creating an alliance between France and Austria, with Russia and Sweden joining in. And Saxony right in the middle.
Moscynska: Wow. How come you're letting this Kaunitz guy all the credit?
Brühl: I'm modest like that.
*change of location to.... Sanssouci*
Fritz (now played by an actor who got famous for this part, Arno Wyzniewski): Fredersdorf (first word of dialogue he has), let's talk exposition and establish that I'm the toughest, meanest, magnificent bastard of the era. Brühl is officially outclassed.
Fredersdorf (played by actor somewhat smaller than Wyzniweski, Joachim Tomaschewsky): No question about it, but since I'm not just your treasurer but also your spy master, I'd still like to know what he's up to.
Italian greyhounds: *are always around Fritz; this is a plot point*
Max de Simoni: I'm one of the two new OCs, a handsome young Swiss adventurer who wants to serve Fritz.
Fredersdorf: You can do that in Dresden as our spy. Countess Brühl is still into young guys lilke you. Seduce her and find out what Brühl is up to.
Simoni: You want me to have sex for Prussia?
Fredersdorf: Absolutely.
Simoni: I never thought serving the Hohenzollern could be such fun.
Simoni: *has sex with Franziska who gets him a job as one of Brühl's undersecretaries*
Pepita von Nostiz: I'm the new naive, in love with a Prussian soldier, who leaves his regiment for a night of love with me. Dresden is just three hours away on horseback, after all.
Prussian soldier: *gets shouted at by his superior officer, draws his sword, realises that he's done, is arrested*
Fritz: Anyone who draws on his superior officer needs to get executed for the sake of discipline in my army.
Fredersdorf: ...But he's a promising young guy otherwise, so maybe some mercy?
Fritz: No. Discipline! Also I don't like deserters.
Pepita: I hate the King of Prussia and swear revenge forever and ever.
Xaver Maslowski: I'm the other new OC, in love with Pepita, tormented by the fact Simoni, who, lilke me, is an undersecretary at Brühl's, flirts with her as well and no one can resist him.
Simoni: *actually gets his hands on the secret documents proving the alliance against Prussia* RED ALERT RED ALERT.
Fritz: ....okay, I'll admit to being just a bit surprised. Clearly, action is called for. Fredersdorf, time to invade again, I've been getting rusty! We're off to Saxony.
Minion: Um. The Prussian army is currently invading our country.
Brühl: Your majesty, while that is a admittedly a bit worrying, it's only a temporary set back. No way Fritz can win against the armies of our allies.
Allies: armies we're going to send next year.
Saxon commander: No way our army can hold off the Prussians until then.
Brühl: ... I think you and I should retreat to Königstein, your majesty.
Episode 6: From the time of the 7 Years War (II):
Fritz: *still in Sanssouci* Fredersdorf, I still need intel on Brühl. Even from Königstein.
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. So every time I'm not explicitly in a battle, I hop back to Sanssouci. It's just a few hours!
Pepita, Maria Josepha, Franziska and Guarini: *conspire in the Dresden palace where the Queen still lives, even under Prussian occupation*
Pepita: I had this brilliant idea of how we can save Saxony from Fritz. We kidnap him, then use him as leverage.
Maria Josepha: Sounds like a plan to me. Countess Brühl, write to your husband to tell him that.
Franziska: Will do, and Pepita, send me your hot Swiss admirer whom I'm still banging as well, we'll use him as a courier.
Simoni: rides to Sanssouci (seriously, the number of times they find an excuse to show that palace is amazing), reports to Fritz about a secret plan, but doesn't actually now WHICH scheme because Franziska hasn't told him what's in the letter and the letter was written in chiffre*
Fritz: You seem competent, and I like your looks. Are you by any chance musical?
Simoni: I play the cembalo.
Fritz and Simoni: *play a flute/cembalo duet*
Simoni: shows up in Königstein
Brühl in Königstein: *is slowly getting stir crazy and suspects a mole, but suspects poor innocent Waslawski, not Simoni, who is just that irresistible to everyone
Guarini in Dresden: As an evil priest, I'm not putting my trust into this kidnapping scheme. We need a fallback scheme. Here's a potion in a black bottle. To be used if the kidnapping doesn't work out. Got that, Glasow?
Glasow: *is a middle aged overweight man* And I get absolution?
Guarini: That's what evil priests spreading the opiate of the masses are for.
Maslawski (not knowing any of this): Pepita, to prove my love for you, I'll be the one to kidnap Fritz, personally.
Maslawski: *spies on Fritz to get a sense of his schedule, thus seeing Simoni depart from the Prussians*
Maslawski: tells this to Pepita
Simoni: *back in Dresden to figure out what the secret plan is*
Simoni: Hi, Franziska. Let's have sex, I've missed you.
Franziska. So I hear you've been hanging out with the Prussians? That's what little Pepita claims anyway.
Simoni: Slander! Okay...I sort of spent some time in Berlin, but I'm Swiss, you know, which means neutral, and can I help it Fritz wanted to play a duet with me?
Franziska: I empathize. You've got a hot bod, you're smart, and they say he doesn't like women.
Simoni: Countess! *wink, nudge* You're the hottest, though.
Pepita's grandmother: *Is a Fritz fan, has heard Pepita's plotting and sends an anonymous (as not to incriminate her granddaughter) warning letter to Fritz that he's about to be kidnapped*
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, then heads off to Bohemia, because*
Austrians: have managed to get an army together to fight Fritz at Lobowitz
Fritz: *wins*
Brühl and August: That's it, alas. We're off to Warsaw.
Glasow: *puts Guarini's poison in Fritz' chocolate cup* (at Sanssouci, Fritz came back immediately after the battle)
Fritz: *sits reading with an Italian greyhound in his lap, tells Glasow to put the chololate next to him*
Glasow: *does so, leaves*
Fritz: *smiles lovingly at dog, lets it drink the chocolate*
Italian Greyhound not named out loud*: *dies*
Fritz: REVENGE!
Glasow: *is tortured, incriminates all the conspirators, not just Guarini, including Simoni (because he's seen him with Franziska a lot)
Fritz: Simoni what? Okay, he is to be hanged, just like Glasow.
Glasow: *is hanged*
Prussian soldiers: Search chez Franziska Brühl for Simoni (and telling her she'd to leave for Warsaw to join her husband and the King there)
Simoni: *escapes through secret door*
Simoni: *is shot when trying to make a run for it anyway, dies*
Pepita: Maslawski, now I can tell you I love only you.
Maslawski: Ditto.
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*
Narrator: 1763 was also the year August III. died. And Brühl. But we're still living in the echoes of Saxony's splendour and Prussia's glory.
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
HAHAHAHAHA
([personal profile] selenak: *googling him later: You're nothing of the sort and already have several rape suits following you at this point.)
Wow. Okay, writers of this thing...
Sukowski: So, I have plans for Saxony. The Austrians are really going downhill in this decades. Isn't Silesia a nice province next door? We should totally invade it!
Maria Josepha: What?
Me: What? Poland?
August III: I'm just into art and building palaces, can't we all be nice together?
Everyone else: No!
LOL. The 18th century, right there. (...actually, I guess, all of politics. But never mind that.)
August III: I just want peace and love, can't it stay as it was?
Everyone else: NO.
HAHAHAHA I FEEL YOU AUGUST III
Brühl: *tells minion that he wants Watzdorf to be freed, but phrases it in a way that makes it very clear what really should happen*
lol I feel like I saw this plot point in Tosca (yeah, I know, not original to that either, but just, lol)
Fredersdorf (played by actor somewhat smaller than Wyzniweski, Joachim Tomaschewsky):
...this would seriously distract me, sort of like when I watched Hamilton and the guy playing Hamilton was taller than anyone else in the cast, like, apparently it is totally OK with me that they're all POCs but the height thing is so weird??
Fredersdorf, time to invade again, I've been getting rusty!
HAHA this is great! Obviously exactly how it happened
Fritz: Because the producers got permission to film here, and by God, they're going to film here. So every time I'm not explicitly in a battle, I hop back to Sanssouci. It's just a few hours!
AHAHAHA okay I laughed really hard at this
Fritz and Simoni: *play a flute/cembalo duet*
sorry, I laughed at this too
(at Sanssouci, Fritz came back immediately after the battle)
HAHAHAHA
[personal profile] selenak: But he wasn't executed! ... Never mind.
LOL!
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*
Wow, that was... kind of... whiplash!
Thank you for sharing this creation with us :D
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
It is, however, in tandem with this show letting the Saxons think of everything first - Silesia, and later the Diplomatic Revolution. (It's true that Brühl was involved in some of the negotiations, but it definitely hadn't been his brainchild.)
...this would seriously distract me, sort of like when I watched Hamilton and the guy playing Hamilton was taller than anyone else in the cast, like, apparently it is totally OK with me that they're all POCs but the height thing is so weird??
I know. It kept bugging me. The Fritz actor in general is taller than most cast members. Then again: Peter O'Toole is way, way, taller than rl T.E. Lawrence was in Lawrence of Arabia, and I never had a problem there, possibly because I first saw the movie before learning about TEL.
The ending is weird. I mean, Brühl just disappears out of the story after he and August III. flee to Warsaw, and we never even learn what became of the Countess Brühl. (Since they don't have children in this miniseries as opposed to rl, the miniseries doesn't have to cover them.) This after having been the villain protagonist for several episodes. So after the two young lovers are reunited and pledged to each other, you get this montage obout the Triumphs Of Fritz (with one defeat in betweeen, which he bears in stoic manliness) and then a sentence to justify the title, and we're done.
What I found interesting from a contemporary history pov is what the series shows, and doesn't show of its locations. Because Dresden in the 1980s didn't look like it does now; a lot of reconstruction and restoriation only happened after the German reunification. So you see some bits and pieces of the royal palaces, but it's no coincidence that the only palace you see completely from the outside Moritzburg, far away from Dresden and in a lake, so there's no WWII damage or modern buildings to cover. And the outside of Sanssouci looks far older and neglected than it does now; clearly they hadn't done a paint job in a while. Not to mention that today, the vineyard is a vineyard again, whereas it wasn't in GDR times (too expensive). What we see of the inside of the Sanssouci palaces is in fine condition, by contrast, though I note the series cheats a bit now and then and lets Fredersdorf and Fritz talk in a room inthe Neue Kammern, not in the main palace itself, while giving the impression we're in the main building. But like I said, you can tell the director and producers decided to milk that permission to film there for all it was worth, and to hell with the fact Fritz would have been with the army in Saxony after the first two or so scenes he has.
But the dogs were really well done. They're not just around running after him; he's shown more than once coddling or stroking them while being a Machiavellian bastard to everyone else, and they're the correct size. I haven'd made a screencap yet because I've never done this before, and I don't know whether it's possible with an Amazon Prime video, but I will try to capture the dog bits and make you and Mildred go awwww.
ETA: Alas. I tried, and I did get screenshots, but it seems they only show black if you do it from Amazon Prime.
Son of ETA: Aha! But the series is also on one of our public broadcast channels and archives, and I just suceeded in a screenshot. Will try further.
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
Is it giving them too much credit to speculate that they might have been inspired by the brief Silesian conquest by Saxony a century earlier, during the Thirty Years' War? (When military conditions were entirely different than in the early 18th century.)
ETA: Alas. I tried, and I did get screenshots, but it seems they only show black if you do it from Amazon Prime.
Odd, I've never had problems screenshotting Amazon Prime and was able to do it just now as a test. Googling indicates that it's not possible from an Android phone, but is possible from any web browser. Glad you were able to get us the screenshots from another source, though!
Re: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
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: Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: A Miniseries in six parts (B)
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)
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!