For Fritz, I'm tempted to go with Madame de Pompadour.
!!!! My reaction to this: okay I have got to ask for this for Yuletide
He wakes up in France, Versailles and/or Paris, no less, which he always wanted to visit, no one speaks German, he's surrounded only by French art, literature and music...but he's a woman. Who's a mistress, and whose worldly power entirely derives from that, meaning that if Fritz doesn't want to end up powerless again, he can't let Reinette repent and withdraw from court.
FRITZ. CAN YOU IMAGINE. THIS WOULD BE THE BEST.
Like, say, persuading Louis to change the law in France so the Academie Francaise accepts female members, starting with Émilie.
lolololol yes this is excellent
Mme Pompadour as Fritz is also great and I love her asking Algarotti for help! (lol to him flirting with both Pompadour and Fritz, btw, because of course he would!) Though since she probably stands to learn somewhat less than Fritz (except, gee, I always thought being a man would be better, and huh, except for the fear of being discovered it totally is!) I think Fritz as Pompadour fills me with rather more glee :)
Hmm, Wilhelmine. In the original Freaky Friday spirit, why not FW? :P Though it's not entirely clear that FW would learn anything really...
Oh, here's a question, who might Catherine/Sophie exchange with?
Belatedly, it occured to me that the big "what if?" in Wilhelmine's life was becoming Queen of England. But the problem here for story purposes is that Fritz of Wales never made it to the throne, he died first. so if Wilhelmine switched places with his wife Augusta, all she could learn would be what she's convinced of already: that Fritz of Bayreuth made a better husband, and that the Hannover cousins were as dysfunctional a family as the Hohenzollerns. She'd have to switch places with her not!mother-in-law Caroline to try out a time as Queen of England within her own (i.e. Wilhelmine's) life time. And Caroline dies in 1737, so it would have to happen before that point, ideally during one of the times when G2 was in Hannover and thus Caroline was Regent in England, which would give Wilhelmine the chance to rule (within constitutional bounds), and would spare her sex with Uncle George. (Because that marriage was decidedly not platonic even in middle age.)
Mind you, against the spirit of the trope, I can see only two reasons why she wouldn't thoroughly enjoy the experience: 1) Caroline's physical condition (Wilhelmine was no stranger to sickness herself, but Caroline in her final years had gout in her feet and suffered from the long term effects of the umbilical hernia she had experienced at the birth of her last child. and 2) 1735!Wilhelmine (that was the last year Caroline could be regent) would of course miss both Fritzes, her brother and her husband, as well as her daughter, and finding Caroline engaged in a feud of mutual loathing with Fritz of Wales would not be fun, either, though I doubt Wilhelmine would care much that Fritz of Wales resented his mother (especially given she did resent Caroline herself at this point; she might even stun the Hannover cousins by actually talking in a non-hostile way to "her" estranged son?).
Meanwhile, Caroline, stuck in a younger body in a backward tiny German principality, would just conclude that she definitely made the right choice back in the day when picking G2 over FW, and get to work on getting her rightful body back, current young adoring husband not withstanding.
Oh, here's a question, who might Catherine/Sophie exchange with?
Depending how serious or how cracky you want the story to be: either an exploited Russian serf (VERY serious variation) or one of her philosopher correspondents (crack variation). Say, Diderot. Diderot-in-Catherine would have the chance to actually start all those reforms he's been urging her to make, but he'd also manage to piss off the Russian nobility in no time flat, make Catherine's long term fave and minister Potemkin distrustful and weird out her boytoy du jour for no longer wanting enthusiastic sex. Since deposed rulers have a very limited life span in Russia, the switch back probably happens just in the nick of time to save both his and Catherine's lives. If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, he also manages to piss of the Russian nobility very quickly, but not as quite as fast, especially since his proposed law changes aren't quite as radical. Otoh, he might be eying the chance to use Catherine's armies against Constantinople as he's been arguing by letter, which some of them would still be keen on.
Meanwhile, Catherine-in-Diderot would at some lovel enjoy the Parisian philosophe life and being a man on a "this is me, taking a holiday" level, but she'd miss power, and while not averse to trying out f/f with Diderot's mistress du jour at least once would not cope with his pious, strong tempered wife for long. (She definitely did not miss being married!) She might involve Diderot in an m/m relationship before she leaves, though. Being on the other end of censorship again and having to worry about the church and state would not be new for her - she had had to watch her every word during her first two decades in Russia, after all - and thus there wouldn't be much to learn on that level.
If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, she'll get in a blazing row with Madame Denis in no times flat and will frighten the community of Ferney with her authoritarianism, thus ruining Voltaire's philanthropic reputation. Otoh, no more "I'm dying any minute!" hypochondria, and Voltaire to everyone's stunned surprise takes to horse riding in his old age and suddenly eats much more, thus losing his skeleton frame. He'll also put the moves on his next handsome, well educated yet not power hungry male visitor. (Casanova? Boswell?)
Heh, yeah, it does rather seem that Caroline and Wilhelmine might not exactly learn that much from the experience, although maybe Wilhelmine would feel even better about the English marriages not being made :)
Depending how serious or how cracky you want the story to be: either an exploited Russian serf (VERY serious variation) or one of her philosopher correspondents (crack variation).
my answer to this is YES :)
Heh, I quite like the idea of Diderot-in-Catherine, and him discovering that this ruling-without-getting-deposed thing is a liiiitle bit harder than it looks :)
If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, she'll get in a blazing row with Madame Denis in no times flat
Okay, I know this is partially because Orieux biased me against her, but even without that I would find Catherine kicking Mme Denis out hilarious.
He'll also put the moves on his next handsome, well educated yet not power hungry male visitor. (Casanova? Boswell?)
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Re: Freaky Friday in Frederician Times
!!!! My reaction to this: okay I have got to ask for this for Yuletide
He wakes up in France, Versailles and/or Paris, no less, which he always wanted to visit, no one speaks German, he's surrounded only by French art, literature and music...but he's a woman. Who's a mistress, and whose worldly power entirely derives from that, meaning that if Fritz doesn't want to end up powerless again, he can't let Reinette repent and withdraw from court.
FRITZ. CAN YOU IMAGINE. THIS WOULD BE THE BEST.
Like, say, persuading Louis to change the law in France so the Academie Francaise accepts female members, starting with Émilie.
lolololol yes this is excellent
Mme Pompadour as Fritz is also great and I love her asking Algarotti for help! (lol to him flirting with both Pompadour and Fritz, btw, because of course he would!) Though since she probably stands to learn somewhat less than Fritz (except, gee, I always thought being a man would be better, and huh, except for the fear of being discovered it totally is!) I think Fritz as Pompadour fills me with rather more glee :)
Hmm, Wilhelmine. In the original Freaky Friday spirit, why not FW? :P Though it's not entirely clear that FW would learn anything really...
Oh, here's a question, who might Catherine/Sophie exchange with?
Re: Freaky Friday in Frederician Times
Mind you, against the spirit of the trope, I can see only two reasons why she wouldn't thoroughly enjoy the experience: 1) Caroline's physical condition (Wilhelmine was no stranger to sickness herself, but Caroline in her final years had gout in her feet and suffered from the long term effects of the umbilical hernia she had experienced at the birth of her last child. and 2) 1735!Wilhelmine (that was the last year Caroline could be regent) would of course miss both Fritzes, her brother and her husband, as well as her daughter, and finding Caroline engaged in a feud of mutual loathing with Fritz of Wales would not be fun, either, though I doubt Wilhelmine would care much that Fritz of Wales resented his mother (especially given she did resent Caroline herself at this point; she might even stun the Hannover cousins by actually talking in a non-hostile way to "her" estranged son?).
Meanwhile, Caroline, stuck in a younger body in a backward tiny German principality, would just conclude that she definitely made the right choice back in the day when picking G2 over FW, and get to work on getting her rightful body back, current young adoring husband not withstanding.
Oh, here's a question, who might Catherine/Sophie exchange with?
Depending how serious or how cracky you want the story to be: either an exploited Russian serf (VERY serious variation) or one of her philosopher correspondents (crack variation). Say, Diderot. Diderot-in-Catherine would have the chance to actually start all those reforms he's been urging her to make, but he'd also manage to piss off the Russian nobility in no time flat, make Catherine's long term fave and minister Potemkin distrustful and weird out her boytoy du jour for no longer wanting enthusiastic sex. Since deposed rulers have a very limited life span in Russia, the switch back probably happens just in the nick of time to save both his and Catherine's lives. If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, he also manages to piss of the Russian nobility very quickly, but not as quite as fast, especially since his proposed law changes aren't quite as radical. Otoh, he might be eying the chance to use Catherine's armies against Constantinople as he's been arguing by letter, which some of them would still be keen on.
Meanwhile, Catherine-in-Diderot would at some lovel enjoy the Parisian philosophe life and being a man on a "this is me, taking a holiday" level, but she'd miss power, and while not averse to trying out f/f with Diderot's mistress du jour at least once would not cope with his pious, strong tempered wife for long. (She definitely did not miss being married!) She might involve Diderot in an m/m relationship before she leaves, though. Being on the other end of censorship again and having to worry about the church and state would not be new for her - she had had to watch her every word during her first two decades in Russia, after all - and thus there wouldn't be much to learn on that level.
If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, she'll get in a blazing row with Madame Denis in no times flat and will frighten the community of Ferney with her authoritarianism, thus ruining Voltaire's philanthropic reputation. Otoh, no more "I'm dying any minute!" hypochondria, and Voltaire to everyone's stunned surprise takes to horse riding in his old age and suddenly eats much more, thus losing his skeleton frame. He'll also put the moves on his next handsome, well educated yet not power hungry male visitor. (Casanova? Boswell?)
Re: Freaky Friday in Frederician Times
Depending how serious or how cracky you want the story to be: either an exploited Russian serf (VERY serious variation) or one of her philosopher correspondents (crack variation).
my answer to this is YES :)
Heh, I quite like the idea of Diderot-in-Catherine, and him discovering that this ruling-without-getting-deposed thing is a liiiitle bit harder than it looks :)
If Catherine switches with Voltaire instead, she'll get in a blazing row with Madame Denis in no times flat
Okay, I know this is partially because Orieux biased me against her, but even without that I would find Catherine kicking Mme Denis out hilarious.
He'll also put the moves on his next handsome, well educated yet not power hungry male visitor. (Casanova? Boswell?)
HAHAHAHAHA