18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 36

[cahn]

Starting a couple of comments earlier than usual to mention there are a couple of new salon fics! These probably both need canon knowledge.

felis ficlets on siblings!

Siblings (541 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Summary:

Three Fills for the 2022 Three Sentence Ficathon.

Chapter One: Protective Action / Babysitting at Rheinsberg (Frederick/Fredersdorf, William+Henry+Ferdinand)
Chapter Two: Here Be Lions (Wilhelmine)

Unsent Letters fic by me:

Letters for a Dead King (1981 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen (1726-1802)
Characters: Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Love/Hate, Talking To Dead People, Canonical Character Death, Dysfunctional Family
Summary:

Just because one's king and brother is dead doesn't mean one has to stop writing to him.

Comments

Re: Wallenstein and Kepler

[mildred_of_midgard]

So I wondered whether or not to write a big Fritz character drama, not about young Fritz but Old Fritz. And then I decided I didn't want Fritz living in my head for years. I'll write about Wallenstein instead! Also a problematic hero, but one I can be emotionally distant from while writing about him, which is better for me! Yep, it's decided.

WOW. I mean, I can 100% understand this! Both the fact that Fritz will totally get in your head and under your skin, and also the fact that you might not want that. (I just compartmentalize really, really well.) But I did not know that Schiller felt that way.

Tangentially, this is Jean Dunbabin in the intro to her bio of Charles I of Anjou (that's 13th century, cahn):

He was no more aggressive than Edward I of England, no more avaricious than Philip IV of France, and his achievements were more interesting than either of these.

Me: Just say he's your problematic fave, Dunbabin! No need to get so defensive.

Re: Wallenstein and Kepler

[cahn]

Lol! I wish more biographers admitted the possibility of having a problematic fave! That was what I loved so much about Orieux, say, that he really embraced the problematic part of problematic fave :)

Re: Wallenstein and Kepler

[selenak]

Indeed he did! And refreshing it was, too, since I read it relatively soon after reading that Voltaire novella which partly annoyed me into writing my own version because it edited out Voltaire's wit along with his vengefulness, vanity and bitchiness in order to make him a martyr subjected to the whims of a mean monarch. I thought, author, I get that you want to write a parable of The Intellectual vs Absolute Power, but this is not how these two worked, and making Voltaire of the all the people bland is a crime against good writing. All hail Orieux, who might have a lamentable lack of German sources and consequently makes mistakes like getting the name of Fritz' wife wrong, Fredersdorf's job title(s) or the fact Fritz' younger brothers weren't scheming against him in 1750 - 1753, but by fully committing to Voltaire's flaws along with his virtues and showing how the two are intimately connected (never letting anything go!), manages to create a terrific portrait.

Re: Wallenstein and Kepler

[cahn]

I agree so totally!

and making Voltaire of the all the people bland

???? I know you mentioned this before but every time I'm like: Wow. How is that even possible??