#to be clear i think it isn't really that max becomes excited for a wedding - i think it's more that she is incredibly touched by what it

[upsidedog]

i am so charmed by a lumax wedding because it’s not even something max thought would happen. like she assumed weddings were something the girl makes happen and the guy puts up with. and because she had no desire for one, so there’s no reason it would happen.

among other things weddings are an exorbitant and performative show of love, max loves lucas and she doesn’t care whether or not other people know or believe this. at it’s best marriage to her has been a representation of failed dreams and at it’s worst it’s been a tool to manipulate people who need to get away to stay. maybe they will get married for the tax benefits, she thinks.

this is until max and lucas are older and living together, they’re chilling on the couch and lucas mentions his family has been asking when he’s planning to propose and if that’s something max even wants? max doesn’t care, she doesn’t plan on going anywhere, a certificate won’t change anything and she's not crazy about parties. she doesn’t ask how he feels, he brings it up, that “actually i want a wedding.”

that is saying the least, lucas wants a wedding more than anything. he loves max and he doesn’t need to prove that to anyone, but he’s happy and he wants to share that with others! he wants to work with max to make marriage a positive thing to them, he wants to celebrate their love, everything they’ve been through. also, hell, he’s only human, he wants to show off! he wants to dress really cool and go to a really cool place and show the world know how awesome he and his girlfriend are. HIS WIFE!!!

most of all, lucas wants the moment near the end of the night, where the party’s getting loud and everybody wants his attention, but max asks if he wants to get out of there and he says yes. not out out, just outside the venue. it’s dark and the once booming music is now faint, they sit and catch up, complain about their families, laugh about their friends. max holds lucas’s hand and plays with his wedding ring, she whispers something sweet before asking him to dance. it’s the best part of the night and nobody will know about it but them.

suddenly max decides she wants a wedding.

[archduchessofnowhere]

If you were to actually write a TV show about young Sisi, how would you do it properly?

Ohhh I have SO MANY ideas, however I’m not sure how rentable they are since they all cater specifically and exclusively to me alone lol. 

First of all, I think that as a society we have to accept that young Sisi doesn’t really make for a great protagonist, at least for modern audiences who prefer a more assertive heroine; that’s why we ended up with Girl Boss Elisabeth in both RTL Sisi and The Empress. So I would make it an “ensemble” show rather than a Sisi solo show, focusing also on other people from Elisabeth’s family, because during these years there are legit moments in which she just doesn’t do anything super interesting to adapt on a screen. But if we follow a larger cast we can switch perspectives from time to time and avoid the two bigger problems of Sisi media: the heavy fictionalization, and the bad pacing (either too slow like in The Empress, or too fast like in Sisi 2009). Also this is my show, so we get all the siblings - Elisabeth’s three brothers and four sisters, and FJ’s three brothers. They’ll have their respective side plots and will be important supporting characters in many episodes. 

For a first season I think the time period RTL Sisi covers is actually pretty good, so I would follow a similar timeline, except that I would actually respect the order in which the events happen (remember that they setted the Italian War of 1859… in 1856). So my hypothetical first season would cover the years 1853-1859 in eight 50-70 minutes long episodes. And the costumes, hairstyles and manners would be period accurate.

Actually I got excited so here is a very rough sketch of what my ideal young Sisi series would be like:

EP 1 - 1853-1854: I would add some flashbacks to 1848 (their previous encounter, FJ becoming emperor, etc), but honestly there isn't any other moment better than Ischl in 1853 to start the story. This weekend is the most overdone moment in Elisabeth's life, so I don't want to focus much on this tho: half way through the episode (and one Karl Ludwig getting his heart broken later) they'll be already engaged. There will be no scheming between Ludovika and Sophie, nor any secret meeting between Sisi and FJ: they simply met during dinner and he became in love at first sight, that's it. The rest will be Elisabeth getting ready for her future role as empress, and we'll end the episode with the wedding.

EP 2 - 1854-1855: The second episode will cover Elisabeth’s first year as an empress, with the Crimean War as a background conflict. We’ll see Sisi trying to adapt to life at court, the visit she and FJ made to Bohemia (where Emperor Ferdinand and Empress Maria Anna will make a cameo), and her first pregnancy. Archduke Max visits Vienna and instantly hits it off with his new sister-in-law, much to the annoyance of FJ. We’ll also see archduchess Sophie’s clear favoritism over Max. The episode finishes with the birth of baby Sophie.

EP 3 - 1856: The episode starts with Elisabeth already entering confinement again. Then Gisela is born, and the disappointment over a second girl is obvious. Elisabeth and Sophie disagree on how to take care of the girls, and the placing of the nursery is a great conflict. This is also the first real conflict between the two women in the series. The rest of the episode will cover the imperial couple and their daughter’s visit to Lombardy-Venetia, where we will see first hand the deep hatred towards the Habsburgs in the Italian provinces. Meanwhile in the B plot, Archduke Max courts Charlotte of Belgium, and in the C plot, Duke Ludwig starts his affair with Henriette Mendel. After the visit, FJ decides that serious changes have to be made and appoints his brother as viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia. By the end of the episode, Max and Charlotte get engaged.

EP 4 - 1857: This episode will cover solely Sisi and FJ’s visit to Hungary. Elisabeth visibly falls in love with the country, and people also love her back. We’ll also dive deep into the brutal repression of Hungary after the revolution of 1848.  However, half way through the episode, Sophie and Gisela get sick, and their illness will lurk during the rest of their parents’ journey, until they’re urgently called back. The episode finishes with baby Sophie’s death. There will be no side plots, the Imperial couple and their children will be the sole focus of this episode.

EP 5 - 1857-1858: The episode starts with Max and Charlotte getting married. Then we shift to Elisabeth, who’s in deep mourning; throughout the episode we’ll follow her in her guilt and grief until she comes to terms with the loss of her daughter. Later on Charlotte gets introduced at court, and starts off with the wrong foot with her sister-in-law. After this visit, Max and Charlotte travel to Lombardy-Venetia, where they settle in their new role. Meanwhile in the side plot, Henriette Mendel tells Ludwig she is pregnant. I know it is too on the nose, but I want to make parallels between Marie Larisch and Rudolf, since they were both born in the same year but under wildly different circumstances; so the episode will finish with Elisabeth (who accepted that she isn’t guilty of baby Sophie’s death) finding out she’s pregnant for the third time, while Marie Larisch is born, and Ludwig starts to ponder about what to do with his new secret family. 

EP 6 - 1858: The opening scene of this episode is a pregnant Elisabeth who is following every order and recommendation the doctors give her: she promises she won’t do anything, so as to not endanger the child. But with this Sisi is also breaking the fourth wall, because she really won’t do (almost) anything this episode: the protagonist will now be Helene. Personally I hate how Nené is reduced to the rejected, bitter sister so I’m making her the heroine for the whole episode because fuck it this is my show. Back at Possenhofen, the imminent engagement of Marie, the third daughter, with the Crown Prince of the Two Sicilies is the main event, but this also makes it obvious that Helene is practically a spinster now. So Ludovika decides to intervene and invites prince Maximilian of Thurn und Taxis, with the hopes he might be interested in Helene. What follows is a full on fictional recreation of their meet cute and courting until Prince Maximilian proposes to Helene. But there’s a problem: King Maximilian doesn’t approve of the union giving their different ranks. So Elisabeth (who’s finally back on the screen after like forty minutes) intervenes, convincing their cousin to allow the marriage. Elisabeth then enters confinement, lamenting missing her sister’s wedding. The episode finishes with a happy Helene getting married.  

EP 7 - 1858-1859: The episode starts with Rudolf being born: all of Vienna rejoices over the birth of the heir. Marie becomes engaged to the Crown Prince of the Two Sicilies, and she and Ludwig (who’s making his mind about whether to marry Henriette or not) go to Vienna and stay there with their sister Elisabeth for two weeks, so we will see them having fun and bonding. Lots of talks about the Italian peninsula being an unstable place, the unification movement growing stronger, etc. Meanwhile at Lombardy, Max struggles more and more to push forward his policies, and the rift between his ideas and his brother’s become obvious. The episode ends in Trieste where Elisabeth and Ludwig say goodbye to Marie, who’s sailing to Naples; Ludwig reveals to his sisters his marriage plans and Sisi promises him to help him out. 

EP 8 - 1859: For the season finale, the entire episode will cover the second Italian War of Independence. I don't have a clear structure for this one tho, but it will start with Max dimiting from his job as Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia, and it will have Elisabeth being extremely worried about her husband's well being and running a hospital for the wounded. Also Ludwig will marry Henriette Mendel in the side plot.

You can totally tell I’m the showrunner because no one would make episodes six and seven lol. This is what I meant with “cater specifically and exclusively to me alone”. Anyway, this is just a rough sketch, there are many important events/personages that I didn't mention here that I would love them to be in this hypothetical series. It's not 100% historically accurate either, I did move some things around so the narrative flows better, but nothing too drastic, and the characterizations would be as close to their historical counterparts real personalities as possible. I accept criticism and also would love to hear other people's ideas for a series!