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selenakHappy new year, everyone! May it see less evil and more kindness in the world, if you’ll allow me the brief sermon. On to more frivolous but still heartfelt things, to wit, fanfiction.
This was the first Yuletide since my early Yuletide days - when I had written solely my assignment - that I wrote assignment and treats alike solely for one fandom. Inspiration had struck, and massively so. Mostly while chatting away with my two Frederician pals, whom I wrote the stories for.
The first story I wrote was a “Five Things...”. Over the course of my historical debates these last months, I had gotten more and more interested in one of those rare constellations in history where you have two people of about the same age but different genders (usually it’s two men, more rarely two women, but a man and a woman?), with very different backgrounds and yet some surprising parallels as they go on, as each other’s arch nemesis. (Which huge political consequences for the rest of Europe.) Now, I’m a sucker for “worthy opponents” type of relationships. Frustratingly, these two never met face to face, but that’s what fanfiction is for. Besides, the “Five Things” format, which I had used in many a fandom over the last decade or two, allowed me to explore them at different stages in their lives, each time independently and yet, I hope, forming an overall portrait, of both the Prussian King and the Austrian Empress (Queen, as he would insist) and the way these high scale power players squared off, tried their best to defeat each other in a myriad of ways and still ended up, most unexpectedly, saving each other in one particular way.
Five Ways in which Frederick the Great and Maria Theresia did not meet (10362 words) by Selena
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor/Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Other(s), Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria & Joseph II, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria / Franz Stephan von Lothringen ×
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria (Frederician RPF), Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Joseph II Holy Roman Emperor, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Rivalry, Enemies, Seven Years' War, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Alternate History, Keep Your Enemies Closer, My Best Enemy, Yuletide, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:
The other idea for an 18th century story I absolutely wanted to write this year also demanded an alternate course of events, history going this way instead of that way, but for a quite different reasons. The key traumatic event early in Frederick II’s life being his failed attempt at fleeing his father and the subsequent execution of his friend and probable lover Hans Herrmann von Katte in front of him, you won’t be surprised that “Katte lives!” AUs are the logical form of denial fic. Since I can be an evil minded person, my own imagination went “how about “Katte lives, but Fritz dies instead?” Followed by: “Hang on, what would Wilhelmine” - Frederick’s favourite sister, who’d shared the horror of a dysfunctional Hohenzollern childhood and youth and despite them having in their adulthood their ups and downs had an intense relationship with him all their lives - “do then?” Wilhelmine in rl dealt with her trauma by secretly writing her memoirs and openly writing operas with revenge plots. It therefore made only sense to me that she would, bereft of the key relationship of her life, go for a real life revenge plot against her father. For which she would team up with her brother’s boyfriend, with whom she had a rather tense relationship for reasons detailed in the story. I got to indulge my inner Alexandre-Dumas/Count-of-Monte-Christo fan with this one, and write a story about grief and survival as well.
Fiat Justitia (10924 words) by Selena
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte, Hans Herrmann Von Katte & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758) & Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758) & Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia & Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Characters: Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Hans Hermann Von Katte, Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen | Frederick William I of Prussia, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, POV Female Character, Katte Lives, Brother Feels, Brother-Sister Relationships, Grief/Mourning, Justice, Survivor Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate History, Yuletide Treat, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:
Now, originally I had meant to gift one of these stories tocahn and the other one to mildred_of_midgard, seeing as these two were the onlie begetters of them in the Shakespearean sense. However, as Mildred didn’t officially participate in Yuletide - despite writing for it anyway, as it turned out -, I couldn’t do that. The Yuletide mods kindly informed me, though, that I could give Mildred a Yuletide Madness treat.
This was in the middle of December, and I was way too busy and exhausted to manage another long story in time. Otoh, I had something unfinished that had been started entirely to amuse Mildred anyway, so I went back to that, armed with a new idea of how to end it. It’s silly meta fun for the historically interested, plus I got to write Goethe as an exhausted chat moderator, and it did make Mildred laugh, so: win!
The Very Secret Chat Transcript of Three Fritzian Fanboys (1356 words) by Selena
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Other(s)
Characters: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph II Holy Roman Emperor, Pyotr III Fyodorovich | Peter III of Russia, Friedrich Schiller
Additional Tags: Crack, Steampunk, Seven Years' War, Alternate Universe - Crack, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
This was the first Yuletide since my early Yuletide days - when I had written solely my assignment - that I wrote assignment and treats alike solely for one fandom. Inspiration had struck, and massively so. Mostly while chatting away with my two Frederician pals, whom I wrote the stories for.
The first story I wrote was a “Five Things...”. Over the course of my historical debates these last months, I had gotten more and more interested in one of those rare constellations in history where you have two people of about the same age but different genders (usually it’s two men, more rarely two women, but a man and a woman?), with very different backgrounds and yet some surprising parallels as they go on, as each other’s arch nemesis. (Which huge political consequences for the rest of Europe.) Now, I’m a sucker for “worthy opponents” type of relationships. Frustratingly, these two never met face to face, but that’s what fanfiction is for. Besides, the “Five Things” format, which I had used in many a fandom over the last decade or two, allowed me to explore them at different stages in their lives, each time independently and yet, I hope, forming an overall portrait, of both the Prussian King and the Austrian Empress (Queen, as he would insist) and the way these high scale power players squared off, tried their best to defeat each other in a myriad of ways and still ended up, most unexpectedly, saving each other in one particular way.
Five Ways in which Frederick the Great and Maria Theresia did not meet (10362 words) by Selena
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor/Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Other(s), Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria & Joseph II, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria / Franz Stephan von Lothringen ×
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria (Frederician RPF), Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Joseph II Holy Roman Emperor, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Rivalry, Enemies, Seven Years' War, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Alternate History, Keep Your Enemies Closer, My Best Enemy, Yuletide, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:
1740: Two young monarchs ascend to the throne: Frederick II of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria. Over the next few decades, the rivalry between them will change Europe forever. Yet they never meet face to face. But there were five times in their lives when they might have done...
The other idea for an 18th century story I absolutely wanted to write this year also demanded an alternate course of events, history going this way instead of that way, but for a quite different reasons. The key traumatic event early in Frederick II’s life being his failed attempt at fleeing his father and the subsequent execution of his friend and probable lover Hans Herrmann von Katte in front of him, you won’t be surprised that “Katte lives!” AUs are the logical form of denial fic. Since I can be an evil minded person, my own imagination went “how about “Katte lives, but Fritz dies instead?” Followed by: “Hang on, what would Wilhelmine” - Frederick’s favourite sister, who’d shared the horror of a dysfunctional Hohenzollern childhood and youth and despite them having in their adulthood their ups and downs had an intense relationship with him all their lives - “do then?” Wilhelmine in rl dealt with her trauma by secretly writing her memoirs and openly writing operas with revenge plots. It therefore made only sense to me that she would, bereft of the key relationship of her life, go for a real life revenge plot against her father. For which she would team up with her brother’s boyfriend, with whom she had a rather tense relationship for reasons detailed in the story. I got to indulge my inner Alexandre-Dumas/Count-of-Monte-Christo fan with this one, and write a story about grief and survival as well.
Fiat Justitia (10924 words) by Selena
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great/Hans Hermann von Katte, Hans Herrmann Von Katte & Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758) & Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758) & Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen, Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia & Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Characters: Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758), Hans Hermann Von Katte, Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen | Frederick William I of Prussia, Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria, Franz Stephan von Lothringen | Francis I Holy Roman Emperor, Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, POV Female Character, Katte Lives, Brother Feels, Brother-Sister Relationships, Grief/Mourning, Justice, Survivor Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate History, Yuletide Treat, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:
August 1730: Crown Prince Friedrich attempts to flee his abusive father and dies. His lover, Hans Hermann von Katte, escapes with Friedrich's sister Wilhelmine. Come what may, Wilhelmine is determined to avenge her brother...
Now, originally I had meant to gift one of these stories to
cahn and the other one to mildred_of_midgard, seeing as these two were the onlie begetters of them in the Shakespearean sense. However, as Mildred didn’t officially participate in Yuletide - despite writing for it anyway, as it turned out -, I couldn’t do that. The Yuletide mods kindly informed me, though, that I could give Mildred a Yuletide Madness treat. This was in the middle of December, and I was way too busy and exhausted to manage another long story in time. Otoh, I had something unfinished that had been started entirely to amuse Mildred anyway, so I went back to that, armed with a new idea of how to end it. It’s silly meta fun for the historically interested, plus I got to write Goethe as an exhausted chat moderator, and it did make Mildred laugh, so: win!
The Very Secret Chat Transcript of Three Fritzian Fanboys (1356 words) by Selena
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Other(s)
Characters: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Joseph II Holy Roman Emperor, Pyotr III Fyodorovich | Peter III of Russia, Friedrich Schiller
Additional Tags: Crack, Steampunk, Seven Years' War, Alternate Universe - Crack, Yuletide Treat
Summary:
During the Seven-Years-War, Frederick the Great's ability to take on three European superpowers and survive won him a great many fans. Three in particular found each other on the internet...
no subject
Date: 2020-01-01 12:03 pm (UTC)You have no idea how excited I was when I first shook the presents and realized you--I mean someone :P--had done the evil "Katte lives - Fritz dies" fic! That was when I started to get super excited about Yuletide.
I completely didn't guess the 5 things structure of the other one, but it works so well and ended up being much more amazing than I could have imagined.
And then I shook my last-minute Madness treat, and I got even more excited, and I wondered what you had done to expand on it, and OMG I did not expect the Fritzian fandom primer!
it did make Mildred laugh, so: win!
It did! It made me laugh so much. Also the people I recced it to. And thank you for trying to gift me one of your longer fics (Katte lives, I assume?) and for going to the trouble of figuring out you could give this non-official participant a Madness gift and then writing one! That was not something I'd known was possible either, so I was completely not expecting my very own gift. And if I could have chosen one of the three, I think I would have chosen this one anyway (it would have been a hard choice, because they're all awesome), so--thank you!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-02 06:46 pm (UTC)Yes, that was the one originally intended for you.
Re: Five Things - why write one summit if you can write five, was my motto there. :)
Also, let me thank you for all the lovely feedback on each story. Usually, I get to fret at Yuletide and be glad if for a single line or two, but this year I got such Wonderful comments from you two and thus was angst-free and just joyful and glad about my own gifts!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-06 09:42 pm (UTC)And
I am soooo thrilled about my gifts as well as yours :D Although of course if Fiat Justitia had been your gift it would still have been my gift as well :)
no subject
Date: 2020-01-06 09:56 pm (UTC)And [personal profile] selenak I can't believe you were able to write all of that, including the madness treat in December, and participate in fandom, lol (I only managed one of the two, of course).
I know, even my fandom participation dropped way off. That's when she caught up to me and passed me in word count, lol!
And yes, that's the nice thing about Yuletide: all the gifts are everyone's! "Fiat Justitia" is totally mine too, as is "Five Ways". <3 Lol, even "Counterpoint" is my gift, in a way, because you wrote the bulk of it. :D
no subject
Date: 2020-01-07 11:53 am (UTC)And speaking of shared gifts, I considered the dogs fic mine as well, naturally. ;)
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Date: 2020-01-07 11:57 am (UTC)Aww, I'm glad. I liked your suggestion of "dog fic" as a category and am now considering other dog fic possibilities. :D
no subject
Date: 2020-01-01 10:54 pm (UTC)Hear, hear!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-06 09:55 pm (UTC)It therefore made only sense to me that she would, bereft of the key relationship of her life, go for a real life revenge plot against her father. For which she would team up with her brother’s boyfriend, with whom she had a rather tense relationship for reasons detailed in the story. I got to indulge my inner Alexandre-Dumas/Count-of-Monte-Christo fan with this one, and write a story about grief and survival as well.
These are, as it turns out, some of my absolute favorite tropes, most notably grief and survival and how you go on when all is lost. And unlikely allies. And seeking (and finding!) just retribution -- I mentioned it in the fic comments, but the catharsis of that climactic scene was incredible. This might actually be my favorite of the three for that reason (and because the 10k through-length allows you to develop it so well), though it's hard to say because I love them all so much.
(Um, have you watched Nirvana in Fire? Because, uh, I think you'd like it.)
no subject
Date: 2020-01-07 11:57 am (UTC)As for the climactic scene in Fiat Justicia, my one regret is that I have zilch musical talent and thus couldn't write you a Verdi pastiche for it as well!