Versailles

[rheasilvia]

OMG, Athelstan is Louis XIV! I totally did not recognize him - not even a little bit!

Surprisingly, some men are born to wear long flowing locks, golden brocade and lace.

I am currently watching Versailles, and enjoying it more than I thought I would. Once the politics kick in, it's really quite enjoyable. And I await the epic crossover AU fanfic pitting L14 against Henry Tudor (if H8 does not lose spectacularly - and have incredible and bloody tantrums over it - I will cry historical inaccuracy!!).

Comments

[selenak]

*wandering by via network*

Of course H8 would lose to L14. Not just when wrestling, as with F1. L14 would outspend him, out-mistress him, outdance him, and just to add insult to injury would have Moliere write a thinly veiled comedy about him. Meanwhile, H8, remembering he's got a world famous writer who can do satire at his disposal, too, is about to ask Thomas More to write a scathing pamphlet about L14 when recalling he already has More executed, so.

[rheasilvia]

Hey there! Glad you dropped by. :-) And yes, H8 is severely outmatched in every way there, which would be bad enough - but L14 does it all with so much more (heh) style, too.

(More wouldn't be able to write that kind of cutting satire anyway, and wouldn't want to. A scathing pamphlet he could do, sure, but it just doesn't have the same kind of sophisticated flair, now does it, my dear Henry...)

It's odd how satisfying it is to imagine H8's apoplectic face over L14 showing him up. At least it's satisfying from the safety of the continent, hundreds of years removed. ;-)

[selenak]

True. Mind you, I was a bit frustrated that Versailles got C2 (and his relationship with his sister Henriette) all wrong (i.e. the actual contemporary English king) when he shows up in the s1 last but one ep, save for the part where they worked in C2' famous quip he leaves being great to Louis, he'd rather be Charles the Long Lived. Which is precisely the type of self deprecating irony H8 was incapable of, but then C2 was half Bourbon (L's first cousin) anyway, so.:)

[rheasilvia]

At this point, I am surprised at any attempt a "historical" series makes to actually stick to historical facts! Versailles got very many things wrong, and Tudors at times appeared to try very hard not to get anything right (speaking of sisters - H8's sister was entirely wrong from beginning to end)...

Just another question for the fanfic writer of the epic I await - how to straighten out some of the more heinous crimes against history. Not including the fact that L14 and H8 are suddenly contemporaries, of course. That just makes *sense*. *g*

I wish someone would make a series about Frederick the Great, but I fear it it not to be. Not enough mistresses and/or wives to fill the bare breasts quota, alas. Perhaps it is better this way, really. ;-)

[selenak]

Frederick the Great and the lack of bare (female) breasts: hold your tongue. Not only did he have lots of sisters to make up for the lack of mistresses as far as the aspiring tv producer is concerned, but in his youth there's even a certified het experimentation with the daughter/mistress of August the Strong (according to Wilhelmine's memoirs, she truly was both, so canon incest to boot, not to mention there's canon nudity, because August presented old Friedrich Wilhelm and young F with an au naturel lady when they visited Dresden, to FW's horror). So early on, the potential series could use the Saxony subplots for bare breasts, and in later seasons, there are the sisters and their love lives, not to mention Frederick's enemies - between Madame de Pompadour, E and K2 of Russia and MT of Austria, plenty of breasts! Meanwhile, every slash fan on the planet would love the season 1 Katte tragedy and sigh that it never gets that good again, because they just can't warm up to Fredersdorf or Keyserling. Though there's a rare pairing fandom for Frederick/Voltaire in later seasons arguing there's more bite in that pairing, literally.

[rheasilvia]

You have convinced me! This sounds like a wonderful series - and the fanfic fairly writes itself. Unfortunately, now I *really* want to see it... any chance of you pitching it??

The series could even start with a lingering shot of bare breasts (and buttocks), with Prussians standing in the background, shocked and disapproving. That should hold viewers for a bit! And if the sisters and enemies should not prove fruitful enough, there are always licentious fictional courtiers that can be inserted in order to spice things up. Frederick can continue being lemon-mouthed at strategic intervals.

August the Strong would make an absolutely wonderful series himself, now that I think on it. Certainly no lack of bare breasts there.

(I love your icon! And it isn't even my OTP. *g*)

[selenak]

Re: August tv series, wasn't there a GDR one called Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria? (Frederick shows up in the last episode as the villain.)

I also dimly recall there was a more recent tv movie centred about Frederick's famous encounter with Bach, which emotionally was focused on Daddy issues (Frederick's, and Friedemann Bach's, with Frederick working out his a bit via projecting on JSB), and was the first fictionalisation I saw where Fredrick is presented as unambigously gay. And yes, his youngest sister, Anna Amalia, is used for female nudity and a sex scene!

Icon: my shipping manifesto. :) and addendum.

Back to a Frederick II tv series. Here's what I predict in terms of fandom reaction:

Season 1 (Crown Prince Frederick): Frederick/Katte becomes everyone's OTP, Friedrich Wilhelm is a bad daddy directly out of the slash cliché book, "FW's A + Parenting" Becomes the new most popular tag at AO3. Wilhelmine, who in the show is a main interesting character, gets written as the audience avatar, shipping the boys and doing nothing else in fanfic. Rare exceptions: het incest stories. The hiatus is spent by denial and fix-it fics.

Season 2 (Young King Fredrick): begins the "the writers have ruined the show!" movement as Frederick starts his development from darling woobie to problematic fave. Complaints about queerbaiting and hetwashing start as Frederick gets married, though when the show makes clear he can't stand his wife and treats her badly the complaints switch to "he's not as likeable as before". A shrine to Katte becomes a prominent feature in Berlin. As Wilhelmine is moved off to Bayreuth, the slashers aren't the only ones complaining. This is the most unpopular season.

Season 3: War Time!: Maria Theresia, Elisabeth and Madame de Pompadour make their antagonist debut, which means the show has layered and narratively important female characters again. Meanwhile, Voltaire shows up, and a new slash pairing is born, this time drawing from the vitriolic best buds/foe yay contingent rather than from the Star Crossed Lovers one as Frederick/Katte did. Meanwhile, first voices start to wonder whether Frederick isn't on a similar character development trail as Walter White was in Breaking Bad, i.e. becoming the villain protagonist. Frederick's younger brother Heinrich starts to be seen as the Jesse Pinkman of the show.

Season 4: More War: as Frederick almost loses before the Czarina Elisabeth dies, he regains some sympathies; moreover, Maria Theresia has developed her own hatedom, as she's bashed for being a conventional narrow minded nag standing in the way of our hero. Being married and a mother multiple times, she's even dismissed by the fans who'd go for a warrior princess. Breakout ship of the season: future Peter III the Frederick Fanboy/His boyfriend, despite them having all but five minutes of screentime. When Peter is killed off at the end of the season and Catherine becomes Czarina, the producers get almost as much hate mail as when Katte died. Though there's no Peter shrine.

Season 5: Old Age. Frederick is now seen as a Magnificent Bastard by loyal fans, as Just a Bastard by the part of fandom which has switched its loyalties to Heinrich completely and wails when H's killed off. The episode where Casanova visits causes an epidemy of Frederick/Casanova stories, though. New characters include Frederick's nephew and future successor and the girl Wilhelmine who'll be his famous mistress; lots of bare breasts and fannish outcry about heteronormativity again. When in the final episode, the dying Frederick sees Katte again, all is forgiven.

[ariunderscore]

I'm a bit speechless, but omg I love this!

[rheasilvia]

Yes, there was that series, but I don't remember much about it - I must definitely watch it again. I feel certain it wasn't quite in the style of the high-gloss pseudo-historical drama that is enjoying such a renaissance with series like Tudors, Versailles*, Vikings, Victoria and the like. This may not be a bad thing, however. ;-)

*(I can't wait to see what they do with Lieselotte von der Pfalz in S2 of Versailles, btw. It will either be horrible or glorious. If she sleeps and/or falls in love with L14 I will slap a bitch.)

On the Frederick series - which might be called "Old Fritz" or "Frederick", but sadly not "Sanssoucci":

You are a genius - and now I am convinced you already have the scripts for at least the first season somewhere in your drawer.

I understand the problem of S2. It is always hard to move on from such a lovely OTP. And - poor Froobie (Frederick + woobie)!! But I don't think fandom will have a problem with the marriage, as it is clear a dutiful prince must marry, and Froobie will not exactly be overflowing with romance and affection.)

In conclusion: So much YES! I want this!! It is perfect! (And fittingly made me think "Triumph! Triumph! Der Plan ist fertig, schwer und kunstvoll wie keiner!" *g*)

Speaking of: Despite your moving manifesto, I will probably never be converted to Schiller/Goethe simply because I don't like Goethe enough - as a person, not an author. Schiller is too good for him! I don't even have a minority pairing to offer as an alternative in this case. ;-)