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]

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. ;-)