LAST EDITED ON Jun-30-15 AT 01:12 PM (EDT)
 

Winterpalast des Kaisers
Brandenburg, capital city of Neukarlsland

Friedrich IV, by the Favor of the Ancestors Emperor of Karlsland, King of Prussia, Margrave of Brandenburg, etc., etc., sat in his private study, and a brown one.

He should, he knew, have been in bed hours ago. He had a very great deal to do on the morrow, and almost all of it to be conducted in the full glare of public scrutiny. His whole country - indeed, much of the world - would be giving him its undivided attention for several quite busy hours, and it wouldn't do for him to spend the day looking as if he had passed the night before drinking brandy, staring into space, and wishing he didn't have to do any of it.

So it was a bit inconvenient that that was what he had spent the evening doing, so far, and that he felt no particular inclination to go and do anything else for the rest of it.

The clock on the mantelpiece above the study fireplace chimed midnight. With a heavy sigh, the Kaiser poured himself another slug of brandy, tossed most of it back, put the glass down on his desk, and regarded the framed portrait standing next to the telephone. He'd killed most of a bottle of Asbach Uralt thus far tonight, and he didn't feel even slightly drunk. That was surely a bad sign.

Hannelore, he thought, considering the photograph. What would you say to me if you were here right now?

He thought he knew the answer, and so it came as a considerable shock when he realized a moment later that he'd actually heard it with his ears, not just in his mind:

"Fritzchen, you faithless cur."

..Oho.

This promises to be a very important conversation. If What I am surmising is in fact the case...mum, I look forward to it greatly!

I hope they just finally admit they love each other!
Because that is the way it has seemed to me, but then perhaps I am a hopeless romantic.

"When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the
truth." - Sherlock Holmes

>I hope they just finally admit they love each other!
>Because that is the way it has seemed to me, but then perhaps I am a
>hopeless romantic.
>

I'm not a hopeless romantic, but I agree with your assessment.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

Well, I was VERY Happy to see that scene between Fitzchan and Hannalore.

But how old is Hannalore? Cuz there was a line that confused me about her "capabilities" or desire.

"When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the
truth." - Sherlock Holmes

>Well, I was VERY Happy to see that scene between Fitzchan and
>Hannalore.
>
>But how old is Hannalore? Cuz there was a line that confused me about
>her "capabilities" or desire.

Born April 12, 1901, per the 'other witches' profile section on the OWaW page - so, 45. Even if she technically hasn't hit menopause, yet, she's certainly into the age range where complications for mother or child are likely enough that trying would be... unwise.

-----

"V, did you do something foolish?"

"Yes, and it was glorious."

>>Well, I was VERY Happy to see that scene between Fitzchan and
>>Hannalore.
>>
>>But how old is Hannalore? Cuz there was a line that confused me about
>>her "capabilities" or desire.
>
>Born April 12, 1901, per the 'other witches' profile section on the
>OWaW page - so, 45. Even if she technically hasn't hit menopause, yet,
>she's certainly into the age range where complications for mother or
>child are likely enough that trying would be... unwise.

To say nothing of the complications of bearing a child in a warzone, or flying into actual combat.

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

>>Well, I was VERY Happy to see that scene between Fitzchan and
>>Hannalore.

Good, good. BTW, quick note - it's "Fritzchen", which is "Fritz" (common nickname form of Friedrich) plus the German affectionate particle "-schen" (the "s" gets elided into the "z" of "Fritz"). Similar sort of connotation to the Japanese "Fritz-chan", but less... I dunno, childish? It's a subtle distinction. Basically she's calling him "Freddie". Anyway, different language construct.

>>But how old is Hannalore? Cuz there was a line that confused me about
>>her "capabilities" or desire.
>
>Born April 12, 1901, per the 'other witches' profile section on the
>OWaW page - so, 45. Even if she technically hasn't hit menopause, yet,
>she's certainly into the age range where complications for mother or
>child are likely enough that trying would be... unwise.

This is a level of detail she would probably not thank us for exploring, but it may be worth noting that what she said was, "I will not bear you heirs," and not, "I cannot bear you heirs." Even if she's still biologically equipped to do so, Hannelore has no interest in being anyone's dynastic baby machine.

In practical terms, that's a significant factor for Fritz to consider - it runs directly counter to the reason he agreed to marry in the first place.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>BTW, quick note - it's "Fritzchen"

Cool! Thanks for the breakdown :) I apologize for any offense to Fitzchen. :)

>>>But how old is Hannalore?
>per the 'other witches' profile section on the >>OWaW page - so, 45.

OK, missed that page (sorry & thanks). So yeah she is about 15 years older than I had in my head.

>it may be worth noting that what she said was, "I will
>not bear you heirs," and not, "I cannot bear you heirs."

Well the original statement could be interrupted as either or both

>Hannelore has no interest in being anyone's dynastic baby machine.

I think very few people like to be thought of as primary a dynastic baby machine.
I could see her wanting to have children for the sake of love, family and to pass on her gift of magic (if magic is tied to bloodlines).
But nothing written has indicated that that is a priority. This just confirms it. She is nothing if not practical.

>In practical terms, that's a significant factor for Fritz to consider
>- it runs directly counter to the reason he agreed to marry in the
>first place.
>--G.

Oh most definitely, Fitzchen is definitely caught between Love and Duty here. And Hannalore doesn't seem like the type to share once a commitment has been made. So there isn't an option of a consort to bear an heir. And Hannolore does't strike me at the type to be the "consort"; again I don't blame her at all. But it wouldn't be totaly crazy idea for the time period.
I agree that neither Fitzchen nor Hannalore are the types to "sink" to that, cuz if Fitzchen had been, there probably wouldn't be this pressure now ;)

As for the record, I hope he goes for love over duty and at some point down the line they get a lucky break ;) But I kinda fear for karlsland if his line doesn't continue; still love over duty they deserve it!

Switching gears, writing a period piece is hard, because so many ideas, norms, and opinions have changed since then compared to now. As usual, it is done very well.
You have me caring about this characters, especially since I haven't seen the source material. So well done sir!

"When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the
truth." - Sherlock Holmes

>
>As for the record, I hope he goes for love over duty and at some point
>down the line they get a lucky break ;) But I kinda fear for karlsland
>if his line doesn't continue; still love over duty they deserve it!
>

Well, there are many ways to deal with continuity of a monarchy. It really depends on what the rules are for Karlsland.

About the only option that I know is off the table is declaring Gryphon as his heir.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>Well, there are many ways to deal with continuity of a monarchy. It
>really depends on what the rules are for Karlsland.

Fritz does have several brothers, but for various reasons we don't need to get into here, none of them is acceptable to a majority of the Bundesrat, so while the succession is sorted on paper, in practice it's anything but. If Fritz had died in Gallia a while back, there would have been an almighty tangle - maybe even a low-grade civil war, which the country, and indeed the Grand Alliance, can ill afford.

>About the only option that I know is off the table is declaring
>Gryphon as his heir.

Yeah, that wouldn't work on... a number of levels.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>About the only option that I know is off the table is declaring
>>Gryphon as his heir.
>
>Yeah, that wouldn't work on... a number of levels.
>
>--G.
>-><-

But it would be amusing to see/read. For us anyways. :P

>>>About the only option that I know is off the table is declaring
>>>Gryphon as his heir.
>>
>>Yeah, that wouldn't work on... a number of levels.
>>
>>--G.
>>-><-
>
>But it would be amusing to see/read. For us anyways. :P

"But I'm not even Catholic...."

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

>"But I'm not even Catholic...."

This is probably a reference to something I'm missing, but it may be worth pointing out that in the Strike Witches/Our Witches at War universe, nobody is Catholic. At least not as we understand the term in real life.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>"But I'm not even Catholic...."
>
>This is probably a reference to something I'm missing, but it may be
>worth pointing out that in the Strike Witches/Our Witches at
>War universe, nobody is Catholic. At least not as we
>understand the term in real life.

The State Religion of Germany is Roman Catholicism. One expects that the Kaiser would have to adhere to the faith.

And now the joke is dead. Moving on....

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

Not sure how I managed to miss this at the time, but:

>>>"But I'm not even Catholic...."
>>
>>This is probably a reference to something I'm missing, but it may be
>>worth pointing out that in the Strike Witches/Our Witches at
>>War universe, nobody is Catholic. At least not as we
>>understand the term in real life.
>
>The State Religion of Germany is Roman Catholicism. One expects that
>the Kaiser would have to adhere to the faith.

Er, no; Austria was (and is) traditionally Catholic, but Prussia, and later the (North) German Empire it dominated, was not. As far as I know, the Second Reich didn't have a "state religion" as such (certainly modern Germany does not). Bismarck did strengthen the position of German Catholics considerably with his ham-fisted attempt to remove them from political influence entirely in the 1870s (ironically enough), but the population was majority Protestant, and the royal family entirely so. (That is, in fact, one of the key distinctions between the Prussian branch of the House of Hohenzollern and the Austrian one - the Prussians are Protestants and the Austrians are Catholics.)

This was a significant point of contention in the early days of the Third Reich, as it happens, since Hitler was Austrian and nominally Catholic. At the time, no one had yet realized that, far from gaining any kind of upper hand from his ascendancy, the Catholics of Germany would suffer just as much as any other group that the Nazis could and did suspect of being subject to foreign influences. To them, a Catholic looking to Rome was just as suspect, and just as dangerous, as a Communist looking to Moscow.

Anyway, as I say, it's a moot point in OWaW since neither Roman Catholicism nor Protestantism exist as such in the setting; but historically, no, the Hohenzollern Kaisers were certainly not Catholic.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

The Second Reich didn't have a state religion, no. And if it HAD had one, it certainly wouldn't have been Roman Catholicism. While Bismarck was less than smooth about it, it was VERY much not an accepted thing to have a potential power and influence in Germany that wasn't German, such as the Pope over the Catholic church. It wasn't religion in and of itself, but more a "Germany for the Germans" sort of thing, and the Pope was seen as an outside influence.

...!
Gott's Leetle Feesh in Trousers!

Hey, just so you know, I'm about to start recording the audio for this one, so, y'know, couple hours? Something like that.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Whelp, you managed to make me love Hannalore even more. Well done.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter

Lovely and so many interesting things happening here..

Hannalore making her case; Why and how for that came about and the social implications of such. (Which are..deep. And interesting; Given Hannalore, fascinating, in fact)

Borrowing transport from sirs that would prefer if you didn't borrow their things (Or in fact, do anything); Nosir there won't be consequences at /all/.

Notifying the /rest/ of earths armed forces that a certain person has come in out of the rain...I wonder how long it will take this story to spread.

The danger Luchinni's in and what measures are being taken for it...and what the rest of the force might think when people learn how far the joint wing is going for an officer who might be facing a bit of disciplinary action for going off alone and getting herself in that condition to begin with.

Oh, and that little bit with the 404 squadron using top secret clearance protocols to secure landing and co-operation.

I'm certain there can't be /any possible/ consequences; I love this episode to bits; It points such a remarkable profusion of road signs.

>Borrowing transport from sirs that would prefer if you didn't borrow
>their things (Or in fact, do anything); Nosir there won't be
>consequences at /all/.

Well, to be fair, General LeMay did say he wanted 404 Squadron to help test the XB-36. Admittedly, he would probably have preferred a less ambitious testing schedule. And one with more prior documentation. Or in fact any prior documentation.

>The danger Luchinni's in and what measures are being taken for
>it...and what the rest of the force might think when people learn how
>far the joint wing is going for an officer who might be facing a bit
>of disciplinary action for going off alone and getting herself in that
>condition to begin with.

Well, the other witches of the world will, for the most part, not bat an eye. If anything, they'll be pleased. Any outfit that will go to such lengths for one of its own is to be admired, and the 501st is already pretty famous for that kind of thing.

Some of the REMFs might have a problem, but neither 1 JSAF's commander nor the 501st's makes a habit of caring too much about that. They know who's preventing the extinction of humanity and who isn't.

>Oh, and that little bit with the 404 squadron using top secret
>clearance protocols to secure landing and co-operation.

On a point of order, there was nothing top-secret or protocol-based about Ridley threatening to land a six-engined super-bomber on the 18-Januar-Straße, which is what got them their landing clearance. That wasn't code for something else. :)

>I'm certain there can't be /any possible/ consequences; I love this
>episode to bits; It points such a remarkable profusion of road signs.

Ah, excellent. Sometimes, stuff branches in unexpected ways. This mini-arc is one of those times! Next episode, we'll be going back to see what the rest of the gang is up to in the B-36 team's absence, and then back to Brandenburg to see how they're getting on.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Man, tough crowd this week. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>Man, tough crowd this week. :)
>

Nah, you're just up against tough competition. Don't worry, the Supreme Court won't do that all the time.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>>Man, tough crowd this week. :)
>>
>
>Nah, you're just up against tough competition. Don't worry, the
>Supreme Court won't do that all the time.

I know, right? They're already back on form with this sort of bullshit.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>Man, tough crowd this week. :)
>
Heh. Though I have an excuse of net.access maybe once a week. Still, between these sort of fireworks and the illegal ones the hispanics in my neighborhood have been shooting off all week, I like yours better.