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: Lehndorff Diaries: 1786 - New King, New Job?

[selenak]

??!!!

YES!

Dammit.


BTW, since Lehndorff seems pretty sure no one else will get to read/listen to this masterpiece, and since indeed there's no mention of it in any of the biographies, I think Heinrich really wrote it just for emotional release, and either later destroyed it himself, or it was confiscated by Hohenzollern censorship after his death. Totally fits with my Unwritten Letters present!

The theologians aren't claiming Frederick the Great is damned to hell for eternity? Tsk. I see they don't make theologians like they used to. ;)

But Mildred, naturally he's in heaven, sees the error of his Voltaire loving ways and hangs out with the greats of German literature instead. We know because various pamphlets tell us so!

re: Lehndorff not mentioning FW2's religious entanglements, I think, bearing in mind his addressing his sons mit outburst, at this point he's aware his diaries will most likely be read by his children after his death, and doesn't want to critisize the reigning monarch too directly lest it gets them into trouble (and/or causes them to destroy his diaries).

Re: Lehndorff Diaries: 1786 - New King, New Job?

[cahn]

But Mildred, naturally he's in heaven, sees the error of his Voltaire loving ways and hangs out with the greats of German literature instead. We know because various pamphlets tell us so!

Fritz's in Heaven, this we know
For all the pamphlets tell us so!
German greats with him belong:
Voltaire is weak, but they are strong!

(For non-Americans and non-religious Americans, there's a famous children's mainstream Christian song that goes like this:
Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to him belong
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so.

Not being a mainstream Christian, I didn't know about this until I was in grad school, when I came across a Cthulhu variant, which I'm shocked not to currently be able to find easily on the internet. But anyway, D is mainstream Christian and later his mother taught me the actual lyrics :) )