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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.
Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
To get some dates in: “Katte – Ein Schauspiel in fünf Aufzügen“ was published in Leipzig in 1914 and premiered on stage in Dresden on November 6th of the same year. The author, Hermann Burte, was a raging Nazi and this play is apparently one of his less bad works. It is, supposedly, a tragedy and it is obvious that Burte has read some primary sources, like Wilhelmine’s memoirs and Katte’s farewell letters, both of which he quotes verbatim at times. He just decides to ignore some parts.
Act 1 (of five)
We begin our journey in the city palace of Berlin with Crown Prince Friedrich and Princess Wilhelmine playing the flute and lute respectively. Fräulein von Sonsfeld is “in the background”, doing God knows what.
Enter: Our Hero.
Katte informs the siblings and the audience about the newest developments in the English marriage endeavour and is not above using long pauses for dramatic effect:
Katte: “Sir Hotham is…”
Fritz: (after a long, dramatic pause) “…Yes?”
Katte: “Leaving…”
Wilhelmine & Fritz: “Leaving!”
Katte: “Because England wanted Grumbkow fired…”
Fritz: “Fired!”
Katte: “Because he is, allegedly, on the Austrian payroll…”
Wilhelmine: “He is.”
Katte: “And they have found letters....”
Fritz: “Letters?!”
Katte: “In which he talks shit about the King.”
We’ve got a very eloquent Crown Prince, haven’t we?
Katte tells the siblings that Grumbkow is still FW’s bff because Seckendorff – Grumbkow’s friend, their enemy (yes, he says that. Just in case Fritz and Wilhelmine forgot.) – has gotten his hands on the letters that Fritz wrote to England, so Grumbkow is fine and Fritz is in deep shit and should write to Hotham asap.
But who will deliver the letter? Katte will! And he’ll bring Hotham’s answer too, so Fritz grabs his hand for a moment and, presumably looking deep into his eyes in a very friendly manner, tells him that he would be nothing without his dear friend’s services, to which the dear friend replies that his services would be nothing without Fritz’s friendship. They use “Du” for each other btw. Not that that will be important for too long.
Fritz leaves, Katte, Wilhelmine and Fräulein von Sonsfeld lurking in the shadows remain.
Wilhelmine: “So, Katte, why are you acting as my brother’s mailman?”
Katte: “Oh, you know, I’m just somewhat bored.”
Wilhelmine: “Oh Katte, you’re so brave for not selling my brother out to our dad.“
Katte: “There are other responsibilities than those of a soldier’s oath. Different ones. I love your brother; that I am his friend is my greatest reason for happiness on this earth, the meaning of my existence even. In a very heterosexual way.”
Wilhelmine: “If you weren’t here, he’d find someone else.”
Katte: “Actually, I am pretty sure that I am the most fitting person in the entire Prussian army to be Fritz’s friend. I mean, look at me, I’m great. I’m musically inclined, I know languages, I have travelled, I was a law student, which is somehow relevant, and also the King trusts me like no other, for some reason.”
Wilhelmine: “You’re pretty vain.”
Katte: “No, no! I am also ugly as sin! Have I mentioned that I do not have a girlfriend? Also, for some reason, I get a line about being some kind of grand puppeteer who likes manipulating the people around him, isn’t that heroic.”
The only person Katte is not manipulating is FW, but FW likes him anyways and even had a chat with him asking “Why does my son not love me, Katte? Make him love me, Katte!” and Katte is now convinced that dear old dad is actually the sweetest person, deep deep inside. Wilhelmine has never considered that before.
Fritz returns with the finished letter, Katte leaves.
The Parents show up and have a fight about whether Wilhelmine should just become a nun and after that it’s time for some classic FW (the sweetest person, deep deep inside) yelling at his son, throwing musical instruments across the room and threatening violence. After he tells Fritz that he will accompany him on his travels, Katte returns and FW and he are overjoyed to see each other:
FW: “Katte!”
Katte: “Your Majesty!”
FW: “Your father is Good Prussian Noble Hans Heinrich von Katte and your grandfather on your mother’s side is Good Prussian Noble Alexander Hermann von Wartensleben?!”
Katte: “Indeed!”
FW: “Great! Be a Good Prussian Noble like them! Do you know what that means?”
Katte: “Predestination sucks?”
FW: “Exactly! Also your collar is a centimetre too high, fix that.”
Fritz is told that he will be taking “the younger Keith” as a page for the duration of the journey south and is kind of bummed out that Katte will not be his page, for some reason.
The Parents leave, the other three remain.
Katte, ever FW’s biggest fan, remarks that his Majesty was very merciful and gets himself an earful of Hohenzollern-sarcasm with Wilhelmine saying that the King just wanted to lock her up in a convent for life a little bit and Fritz marvelling at the fact that his face is still intact and his hair was not ripped out, a merciful King indeed.
We have now reached talk of escaping. Wilhelmine is not into it and asks Katte to please say something wise.
Katte: “There are three ways to fix this.”
Fritz: “Running, leaving and getting away?”
Katte: “No. Wilhelmine marrying the Duke of Weißenfels…”
Wilhelmine: “Fuck you AND the Duke of Weißenfels!”
Katte: “We could also sacrifice your mom, since this is all totally just her fault…”
Fritz: “True, but no, so let’s run.”
Katte: “Alright, but please don’t leave before you reach Wesel, it won’t be safe.”
Fritz: “How about no? You won’t order me around, I’m leaving whenever I want to leave.”
Katte: “Then I’m not going.”
Wilhelmine: “Listen to the nice man, Fritz, wait until Wesel.”
Fritz: “I won’t promise you shit, actually?? Do you want to imprison me like my father is doing already??”
Katte & Wilhelmine: “We literally just want you to not die.”
Fritz: “Well, I won’t promise you shit! See you around!”
And he leaves. This is the last thing we’ll see of him until the execution scene, so I hope you didn’t get too used to his presence. Wilhelmine tells Katte to run after him and work his magic as a master puppeteer, Katte says “Keith is an unreliable Scotsman, so if Fritz leaves before Wesel he’s absolutely fucked and so are we. See you around, your Highness!” and runs after Fritz.
Act 2
We are in Monbijou, where Frau von Kamecke and Fräulein von Sonsfeld are talking about possible ghost sightings during the last few days, especially a commotion that happened in the evening of the 11th of August. Fr. von Kamecke is convinced that shit is about to go down, Frl. von Sonsfeld is not.
Kamecke: “So, in any case, we’re all gonna die. Oh no, here comes your Princess – YES, a BEAUTIFUL celebration, NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT! Oh shit, was that an owl outside!? Do you know what that means!?”
Wilhelmine: “That owls scream when they see light.”
Fr. von Kamecke leaves, possibly frightened of either the owl or Wilhelmine’s “I ain’t afraid of no ghost” approach and Wilhelmine is left alone with Frl. von Sonsfeld whom she ends up kissing passionately because she is just so glad to be alive!
People are having fun at the celebration and Frl. von Sonsfeld attributes that to Katte being there and telling funny stories. He is, apparently, being spoiled rotten by the Queen’s affection. We later find out that SD is “telling FW about how great he is”-levels of into Katte. Because literally everyone in this play is super into Katte. Wilhelmine is the least into Katte and she’s supposedly in love with him.
The miniature portrait of totally just Wilhelmine that Fritz is definitely not a part of is mentioned and apparently SD took to the whole “I will not give this back, the Queen should calm down” thing way better here since not only is she not not talking to him anymore but, according to Frl. von Sonsfeld, Katte is “a favourite”.
Katte is also not done by simply saying “The Crown Prince allowed me to copy it, I made it, it’s mine”, no-o, this Katte apparently said that he “would rather die than give up Wilhelmine’s image”. Wilhelmine swoons a little at that and I believe I saw a glimpse of my own brain while rolling my eyes.
Frl. von Sonsfeld mentions that Katte seems a little distraught because he doesn’t listen to people and suddenly sucks at dancing, so Wilhelmine has her call him over.
Wilhelmine: “Oh no, he’s pale and distracted and telling funny stories! What does this mean? Oh, his fate truly seems to be written all over his face! I do not know how I should know his fate or why the author thought that including the thing about Katte “always looking somewhat grim as if he already knew his fate” was necessary since I wrote that line over a decade later when I, in fact, knew his fate, but whatever. Hey, Katte, why are you only funny when I am not around?”
Katte: “Funny is a word that is hard to define, but apparently the rest of the court had a blast listening to me talking about figuring out my horse’s dietary restrictions after it almost died. I don’t get it either, maybe I’m just that charming.”
Wilhelmine: “You’re looking a little worse for wear and there’s a twitch right where your eyebrows, that even this Katte-approving version of me can’t not comment on, are connected in the middle. What are you worried about?”
Katte: “Alright, I will speak. You know my relationship with the Crown Prince.”
Wilhelmine: “I will react to this statement with “a pained movement” that the author of this summary still does not know how to interpret in other ways than “don’t make me think about the fact that you’re screwing my brother”.”
Katte: “First up, my collar is up to code today. Maybe it is a metaphor, who knows. Now let me tell you about how Fritz and your dad not getting along is tearing my heart apart because I love them both so much and I am still FW’s biggest fan and I honestly don’t get why Fritz has a problem with him. So anyway, I can’t give either of them my whole heart, I am so torn, I think I might die. Onto the actual happenings: I think Fritz has been captured.”
Wilhelmine: “Okay then, leave Berlin asap.”
Katte: "No, I can't leave, all of the King's wrath would come down onto the Crown Prince and you! So I intend to sacrifice myself to save my Prince. However! If you fled with me, I would go! Because fuck what happens to Fritz, I guess. Having feelings that are consistent for more than two lines is hard for me."
Wilhelmine: “Do me a favour and run, I do not want your sacrifice.”
Katte: “Am I not good enough?” D:
Wilhelmine: “Listen, I just vaguely want you not to die and Fritz would say the same.”
Katte: “Who? Anyway, are you mad at me because I did not give that picture back to you?” D:
Wilhelmine: “Alright, I’ll let you have a love confession, now run.”
Katte: “Well, now I REALLY want to die for you! Can I have this last dance?”
While they dance, Fr. von Kamecke gets the letter notifying her that Fritz tried to flee, connects the dots to the ghost sightings and leaves to tell the Queen.
Katte tells Wilhelmine that he will send her a box full of evidence to destroy, tells her where to find his signet and leaves when the Queen starts screaming.
Change of scenery, Katte’s friend Holtzendorff appears and lets Katte know that they got time off to go to Malchow. Katte says that he doesn’t need it anymore because he will get arrested. Then he gets arrested.
End of Act 2. I’ll do the rest as soon as I can!
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
I will say that I took a look at this before you started summarizing, and being me I spent the most time on the execution and Fritz and Katte's last interaction, and I noticed a "Mein Bruder Jonathan." Uh huh. Yeah. Mein extremely heterosexual Bruder. :P
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
(This said, no budding Nazi writer in 1914 can claim innocence to the Jonathan comparison, especially if he’s going to all this trouble to hook up Katte with Michal, err, Wilhelmine.)
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Trying for some semiserious comments on what sounds like a terrible play: Katte being that loyal to FW makes me wonder whether Burte was a fan of not even Schiller's, but Verdi's Don Carlos. (Not Schiller's because Schiller's Posa feels a bit sorry for Philip at best, but well, he starts the play conspiring for Dutch freedom, so "should I be loyal to my King or my crown prince?" never is an issue.) Otoh "how do I get my son to love me?/Why doesn't my son love me?" is actually not that inaccurate for FW as such (not as a question to Katte, for his attitude, I mean). We're talking about the man who wrote instructions to little Fritz' educators that they were never to threaten him with FW's anger, only with the Queen's, because he wanted to be loved, not feared by his son, and who according to the Braunschweig envoy loved shopping for Christmas treats himself to give his smaller kids. He just was utterly and completely unable to make a connection between behaving like a tyrant at any sign Fritz wasn't a little replica liking the exact same things FW did, and being feared.
Anyway, as it's impossible to be a German playwright and not to have read your Schiller, I do think making FW seek out Katte as a confidant was probably some backwards projecting of the Philip-Posa-Carlos constellation on FW-Katte-Fritz on Burte's part.
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
"Herr Oberst" only appears this one time in direct response to Fritz switching from "du" to "Herr Leutnant" in order to get Katte to desert the army by citing his higher rank... in the army, which is an interesting approach (direct quote following this exchange: "Ich befehle, als Vorgesetzter!"). Usually it's "du" from both of them in act 1 and Fritz in act 5 with one "königliche Hoheit" used when talking about the whole marriage thing and one "mein Prinz" in act 5.
I did recognize FW's whole "love me"-thing (he says it to Fritz himself too during the whole "will Wilhelmine become a nun" conversation that I did not write much about), I just thought the mental image of him telling Katte of all people was a bit strange. So far, Burte has not really managed to back up the claim that FW is actually the sweetest person (deep deep inside) beyond Katte telling the audience/Wilhelmine that he is, so it feels a little unwarranted from a "theatrical" point of view...? Especially because Burte usually loves exposition dumping. FW gets more stage time in acts 3 and 4 and I did not read everything too closely on my first read through, so I might find something yet.
Now I regret not having read Don Carlos, that might have been interesting for comparison :'D I'll have to look for a Katte play closer to Faust or Die Räuber
Don Carlo and Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
But anyway here I come with the opera links :D (For the most concentrated Katte-extrapolated-to-play experience I'd go with the first (Hampson and van Dam) and the abridged scene with just the "looooove me" bit, but I couldn't resist giving you the rest.)
This Don Carlos (Hampson, van Dam) unfortunately only has subtitles in French but has a fabulously emo
KatteRodrigo (with a really unfortunate wig, yes); this is an older French version so the text is a lot closer to Schiller than in the below (revised Italian) version. (Selena, this is the version I sent you in audio :) ) Also Hampson is fairly young here (for an opera singer) and kind of gives me more Katte vibes than the second version, I must admit.This is the whole opera which you probably don't want to watch (and should skip the first hour anyway unless you really really like opera) but the one Rodrigo & Philip (Katte & FW) scene is not too long. Obviously there are some differences (e.g., Rodrigo is really into freedom, and there's a whole love triangle with the Prince and the King's new wife) but I think you'll see what Selena and I mean about how the Tragicomedy might have been cribbing some from it...
1:16:30 to 1:26:45 for the whole scene
1:23:05 to 1:26:45 for just the "looooove me" bit (it's super touchy feely, I love it)
But I must also give you my favorite Don Carlo Rodrigo & Philip (read: Katte & FW) -- Keenlyside and Furlanetto -- where Philip/FW just waaaaants to be looooved. Again this is the whole opera which you probably don't want to watch but the one scene is not too long: 1:19:15 to 1:32:00, and if you just want the "why can't everyone love me I am soooo saaaad help me out here
KatteRodrigo" then 1:29:05 to 1:32:00. This one has definitely gone away a bit from the Katte/Fritz/FW vibes, but I include it because you can still see some vibes and it's my fave :)Earlier there is a scene where Rodrigo is getting it on with all of Elisabeth's ladies-in-waiting, some of the directors really ship him with everyone, lol.
/trying to distract myself from the state of the country
Re: Don Carlo and Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Katte in Rodrigo's place: does not go through all the complicated plotting and actually tells Carlos what's going on, but otoh utterly bungles the interlude with impressing Philipp in the first place, because Katte is trained to never talk back to the autocrat. So no Sire, geben Sie Gedankenfreiheit!" speech. At best, it's "look, Alba and Domingo are plotting to marry your son to A PROTESTANT PRINCESS, him wanting to flee is just to avoid this!"
Rodrigo, in Katte's place: When Fritz first suggests running away in Zeithain, doesn't try to dissuade him but starts a super complicated scheme where he reports to FW about Fritz' debts (i.e. the minor, forgivable misdemeanour), thus making FW trust him and charge him with escorting the Crown Prince back to Berlin. This would have put Rodrigo in the ideal position to escape with Fritz before anyone notices, but alas, he's forgotten to tell Fritz this was the plan, so Fritz, finding out Rodrigo ratted him out about the debts, heartbrokenly confides in a Potsdam Giant. (Look, it's hard to find an equivalent to Eboli!) Disaster ensues...
BTW, I just looked, and Amazon US does offer a Schiller Don Carlos production on DVD, pretty expensive (as in 40 plus Euro), but it doesn't say whether it's regionally locked, which I expect, alas, to be the case (otherwise surely they'd advertise it being playable in the US as a plus?)
Re: Don Carlo and Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Hee, yeah, on the other hand he might still not have asked for a reward, and Philip doesn't seem to necessarily have a thing for tall guys, so Katte might have a chance? :)
but alas, he's forgotten to tell Fritz this was the plan
OF COURSE HE DID
Fritz, finding out Rodrigo ratted him out about the debts, heartbrokenly confides in a Potsdam Giant. (Look, it's hard to find an equivalent to Eboli!)
HAHAHAHAHA okay this totally made me laugh, that is an inspired Eboli substitution!
Hmmmph, yeah, from all indications I think I'd have to assume that DVD looks regionally locked. But at least they have one? I don't think they did when I was looking two years ago... maybe in another two years something will come up?
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
In a very heterosexual way.
Of course, Katte!
"Also, for some reason, I get a line about being some kind of grand puppeteer who likes manipulating the people around him, isn’t that heroic.”
ahahahaha OMG ... has someone read Schiller?
Katte: “Predestination sucks?”
Wow, Katte KNOWS
and Wilhelmine is left alone with Frl. von Sonsfeld whom she ends up kissing passionately because she is just so glad to be alive!
...I... was not expecting the pairing to be Wilhelmine/Sonsfeld but you know what, I am ROLLING with it, YEAH.
Because literally everyone in this play is super into Katte
AHAHAHA yeah this does remind me of watching Don Carlo for the first time, actually, where literally all the characters seemed really into Rodrigo
and I believe I saw a glimpse of my own brain while rolling my eyes.
LOL I DON'T BLAME YOU
Oh, his fate truly seems to be written all over his face! I do not know how I should know his fate or why the author thought that including the thing about Katte “always looking somewhat grim as if he already knew his fate” was necessary since I wrote that line over a decade later when I, in fact, knew his fate, but whatever.
HEE
Wilhelmine: “I will react to this statement with “a pained movement” that the author of this summary still does not know how to interpret in other ways than “don’t make me think about the fact that you’re screwing my brother”.”
...I laughed so hard, I can't even tell you. This was hilarious and I am looking forward to the next part!
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
We’ve got a very eloquent Crown Prince, haven’t we?
LOL
They use “Du” for each other btw. Not that that will be important for too long.
Lolsob.
I love your brother; that I am his friend is my greatest reason for happiness on this earth, the meaning of my existence even. In a very heterosexual way.
*dies*
I was a law student, which is somehow relevant
LOLOLOL
Wilhelmine has never considered that before.
And will never, I suspect.
Katte: “Alright, but please don’t leave before you reach Wesel, it won’t be safe.”
Wilhelmine: “Listen to the nice man, Fritz, wait until Wesel.”
This is exactly what I was going to bring up during the "What would Fritz do with time travel?" discussion: Selena proposed leaving earlier on the south Germany trip, and I've been meaning to ask why? Given the geography, everyone (at least Katte that I know of) was trying to get Fritz to wait until Wesel. Fritz's great besetting sin in life was not putting things off, it was jumping the gun. (I totally understand why he did on this occasion, but.)
That said, it so happens that in thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that Wesel specifically might have been too late: it was when FW got to Gueldern that he discovered Peter Keith had deserted. Given that he'd sent Peter to Wesel earlier that year specifically because he knew Peter was helping Fritz with his escape plans, this discover might have been enough to make FW tighten the guard on Fritz before he had a chance to sneak out of Wesel. (Again, I understand why Fritz feared putting it off until it was too late and would rather give himself multiple opportunities, and of course I understand his inability to wait one more day, even beside his normal "I'd rather be a hammer than an anvil" personality, as one biographer put it.)
See the chronology map I put together.
Keith is an unreliable Scotsman
Hello, 1914 Germany!
Wilhelmine: “That owls scream when they see light.”
Ha! This is so Wilhelmine; her memoirs are full of things like this.
Because literally everyone in this play is super into Katte. Wilhelmine is the least into Katte and she’s supposedly in love with him.
LOL FOREVER
Katte is also not done by simply saying “The Crown Prince allowed me to copy it, I made it, it’s mine”, no-o, this Katte apparently said that he “would rather die than give up Wilhelmine’s image”. Wilhelmine swoons a little at that and I believe I saw a glimpse of my own brain while rolling my eyes.
LOL FOREVER SQUARED
Katte: “Funny is a word that is hard to define, but apparently the rest of the court had a blast listening to me talking about figuring out my horse’s dietary restrictions after it almost died. I don’t get it either, maybe I’m just that charming.”
Okay, so...are the horse's dietary restrictions your own invention or is this in the play? I must know!
Because fuck what happens to Fritz, I guess. Having feelings that are consistent for more than two lines is hard for me."
LOLOLOL I AM DEAD FROM LOLZ
Katte says that he doesn’t need it anymore because he will get arrested.
Wow. That's...something.
Thank you for this, this is so great!
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
I don't disagree with you on geography, and that Wesel would have been the perfect transition point on that count because he can go to the Netherlands from there right away. But time travelling Fritz would know that the game was essentially up by then already, not just for him but also Katte and Keith, whereas no one expects him to make a run for it earlier. And the Rhineland principalities and free cities are full of anti-Prussian feeling, while Ansbach, where they wanted to visit his sister, after all, is like neighboring Bayreuth surrounded by Catholic Church territory where FW has pissed off the Prince Bishops by kidnapping some of their taller subjects. Meaning: they might not be so eager to help FW pursue and arrest his fleeing son.
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)
Indeed! :D I've got to admit, as dumb as this play is: Wilhelmine is done rather well overall (apart from the whole Katte part). She gets some great lines and is generally entertaining. The memoirs appear to be Burte's main primary source and are quoted verbatim at times, but for reasons unknown he does not mention the "Katte, that absolute dumbass, gave me a letter in plain view of Fr. v. Ramen"-scene :P
are the horse's dietary restrictions your own invention or is this in the play? I must know!
I wish I had made this up, but they really are in the play! Katte told people "My horse got terribly sick when we fed it scraps of the bread the army gets, now that we eat all the bread ourselves it's doing great" and people in Monbijou thought it was hilarious. Not even just a small chuckle like "Lol, the army bread sucks", no, he appears to be the star of the party with this story. Katte is also very confused as to why people reacted like that. It's almost as if the "we all think Katte is a swell guy"-algorhythm malfunctioned :'D
Re: Katte - A Tragicomedy (the first half)