18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 38

[cahn]

Gonna go ahead and make this post even though Yuletide is coming...

But in the meantime, there has been some fic in the fandom posted!

Holding His Space (2503 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF, 18th Century CE Frederician RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf/Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Characters: Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Additional Tags: Protectiveness, Domestic, Character Study
Summary:

Five times Fredersdorf has to stay behind - and one time Friedrich doesn't leave.

Using People (3392 words) by prinzsorgenfrei
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Hans Hermann von Katte
Additional Tags: Fluff, Idiots in Love, reading plays aloud while gazing into each others eyes
Summary:

Friedrich had started to talk to him because he had thought of him as a bit of a ditz.
And now here he was. Here he was months later, bundled up in this very same man’s blankets with a cup of hot coffee in front of him, its scent mixing with that of Katte’s French perfume.
_
Fluffy One Shot about one traitorous Crown Prince and the sycophant he accidentally fell for.

Comments

Re: Replies From the last post

[mildred_of_midgard]

Us? The most harmless bunch of people this side of Fritz, Voltaire and Hervey? :) More seriously, I'm always happy to see our occasional guests

Hee! I'm happy to see guests too! But one thing I've discovered in my life is that aggression isn't the only thing people are intimidated by; just doing things at an advanced enough level is enough. And we're doing relatively high quality original research, and I can see why the "humble shitposters" of Discord and the fanfic writers of Yuletide don't always feel at home here. I wish it weren't so! Because we have our fannish side too in salon, and I told prinzsorgenfrei to invite the Discord fans. But I understand it.

gambitten is the perfect example of someone who wasn't intimidated precisely because they *were* operating at an advanced enough research level to feel at home here. You may recall they were getting a degree in neuroscience at Oxford. ;)

(Gambitten never replied to my email, alas. I fear we have lost them for good.)

Savoy didn't continue to develop a European superpower with centuries of propaganda supporting it, m'dear.

Couldn't his line have done a better job when they went from being kings of Sardinia became kings of Italy? But okay, point taken. Ain't no propaganda like Prussian propaganda.

Also Victor Amadeus didn't save any Huguenots (or did he?).

Ahahahaaaa, yes, well, he alternately saved them and persecuted them depending on who he was allied with. I imagine the pendulum swings must have been very whiplash like for the Huguenots. "Leave the country upon pain of death! No, wait, come back, I'll pay you specially to be in my army! Oh, no, now I'm wiping out your villages again." :P (Comedy is tragedy plus time.)

More seriously, he wanted to leave them alone paying taxes and living peacefully in his domains, and he defended his right to do so vigorously to the Pope--which, considering he was a devout Catholic, unlike the Calvinist Elector, is saying something. But then when he ended up allied to Louis XIV (reluctantly, but France was the superpower next door that he was either going to be allied to or occupied by until he could find some other superpowers to protect him), he had to wage a war against the Huguenots. He tried to fight it, but he gave in.

Then he switched to being allied with the Maritime Powers, and William III was all, "So WHEN are you going to start protecting Protestants?"

VA: "I'd love to, but I sort of can't--"

William: "When I said 'when', I meant 'now'."

VA: "Calling all Protestants who've fled my country, please come back! I'll be extra nice to you as long as this alliance lasts!"

So, yeah, I suppose the Great Elector wins the point there. :P

ETA: I forgot to mention, when VA was persecuting Protestants against his will, he tried to at least get money from the Pope (the one he had previously been arguing with) on the grounds that he was being such a good Catholic monarch! This kind of relentless opportunism is the stuff of which my problematic faves are made. :'D

Re: Replies From the last post

[cahn]

You may recall they were getting a degree in neuroscience at Oxford. ;)

I mean... it wasn't because they were getting a degree in neuroscience at Oxford, though! It was because they were also operating at that level in this particular field :) (Also, aww man, I'm sad they aren't coming back and hope they are okay!)

I'll be extra nice to you as long as this alliance lasts!"

Heeeeee!

when VA was persecuting Protestants against his will, he tried to at least get money from the Pope (the one he had previously been arguing with) on the grounds that he was being such a good Catholic monarch!

I am not as much of a fan of the relentless opportunism as you are, but that is pretty amazing.

Re: Replies From the last post

[mildred_of_midgard]

I mean... it wasn't because they were getting a degree in neuroscience at Oxford, though!

Well, no, I don't think it was either necessary or sufficient, but I also suspect it might not have been totally irrelevant, either.

I am not as much of a fan of the relentless opportunism as you are

Few people are. ;)

but that is pretty amazing.

It takes some chutzpah to try that with a straight face! (If I'm remembering correctly, the pope didn't buy it, understandably so.)

ETA: When we do our classics salon someday, I'll tell you all about chutzpah, relentless opportunism, and this guy named Alcibiades. ;)

Re: Replies From the last post

[selenak]

When we do our classics salon, cahn will be able to surprise you by now knowing about the Flavian Emperors and Flavius Josephus!

Also, speaking of extremely competent opportunists, I can reccommend Robert Caro's biographies of Lyndon Johnson, reviewed by yours truly here and here. To quote myself: in between being appalled at LBJ, horrible human being, it's impossible not to be awfully impressed by LBJ, Ultimate Answer To Political Competence Kink, especially when it just so happens his interests and the public interests coincide. Mind you, Caro's multivolume series has not reached Vietnam yet!

Re: Replies From the last post

[mildred_of_midgard]

I will not be surprised, because Cahn has already told me that you taught her about the Flavians when you were in LA! :D

We have agreed that if she and I are in LA at the same time, we would like to visit the Getty Villa (I've been, she hasn't), and if you can come too, that would be amazingly educational all around.

Re: Replies From the last post

[luzula]

Hee! I'm happy to see guests too! But one thing I've discovered in my life is that aggression isn't the only thing people are intimidated by; just doing things at an advanced enough level is enough.

I think you guys are very welcoming! : ) I mean, given the fact that I'm not properly in Frederick the Great fandom (although I do enjoy reading the occasional tidbits there too), but in Jacobite fandom, and you don't mind me hanging around--more than that, you're all very conscientious about replying to my comments too!

Re: Replies from the last post

[mildred_of_midgard]

Thank you! Glad to hear it! We try very hard to be personally welcoming; I think it's the amount of serious-business research that scares people off.

Jacobite fandom: We've been delighted to have you! I mean, Selena's told us about everything from 12th-century Empress Maud to post-WWII events, and I might drop some 10th century Otto the Great soon, so your mid-18th century fandom fits squarely into salon. :D

I really want more people to join and tell us about more related subjects!