the Northern Messanger

a bunch of old letters and pictures and stuff don’t worry about it

[ciderbird]

I agree the Alexander 1 series sucks but I hope when they create season 2 (that has been a strong possibility of happening) It will be SO MUCH BETTER and make it more interesting than the first series.

[ciderbird]

i found that alexander i show and there is like nowhere to watch that shit with english subtitles 💔 i know its probably slop but ill take what i can get

Yeah I don’t know if there’s any English subtitles available because they only have it on Russian streaming services (maybe there’s subtitles on the pirate sites like rutracker?) but I totally understand the desire to see an adaptation of that period however poorly made, because look at me, I hated the first episode and still watched the whole thing like a fool

[ciderbird]

so I finished watching the new Russian series about Alexander I, and it sucked, but at least I get to make an edit of Yuri Chursin as Napoleon

[ciderbird]

@argostheloser well since you asked…

It’s the newest Russian tv series with 12 episodes that follows the rule of Alexander 1 and so far covered the period from the death of Catherine the Great to Treaty of Tilsit. It ends kind of abruptly but idk if there’s going to be a second season.

It’s pretty bad. Like not even funny bad, just boring and incompetent, and somehow manages to both overcomplicate the drama between characters and also fail to make you care about any of them at all.

There were some truly baffling choices, like making Platon Zubov, Catherine’s latest lover, some crafty mastermind on par with Talleyrand, or making Maria Feodorovna, Alexander’s mom (and his brother Constantine!) try to take the throne from him after Paul’s death.

Alexander himself is pretty bland. On top of being miscast, Romantsev plays him as just this reserved and indecisive young man, there’s no charisma or famous charm to this Alexander. He manages to play the tortured melancholy side of him pretty well considering his physique but it just doesn’t land without some tonal variety. You watch him and wonder why do all these women fall for him.

Chursin as Napoleon was at least entertaining to watch. The cheap wigs and ill-fitting uniforms really hampered his performance but there was a good Napoleon there somewhere.

Anyway that’s my review of it. I could go into detail about how much the production sucks, including rushed titles of who each character is and what year we’re jumping to constantly, or out of sync ADR, but I don’t have the time to list every poor decision they made

[ciderbird]

so I finished watching the new Russian series about Alexander I, and it sucked, but at least I get to make an edit of Yuri Chursin as Napoleon

[ciderbird]

I was recently in the Mikhailovsky Castle so here’s some pictures of the bust of Alexander as crown prince that I took

still not sure I like that hairstyle but it was in fashion apparently as grand duke Constantine was rocking it too

Also here’s a miniature portrait of him made around the time of his marriage and an unrelated painting of Apollo with Hyacinth which looked like the former might’ve been modeled after Alexander (this is purely my speculation but I still wanted to share it)

[ciderbird]

what would you say the best russian language books on alexander are?

Well. That’s a tough one, I haven’t read many. I personally like Troitsky (Николай Троицкий), he wrote a lot about the 19 century and Napoleon but I only read «Александр 1 и Наполеон» it’s a monograph about their respective lives and rule that seems quite informative on both.

if you want something more fictionalized try Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s novels. He wrote one on Paul’s assassination and one on Alexander, as part of a larger trilogy (Царство Зверя). I’m not a fan of how he portrays them but it is quite a revered part of russian literature and most adaptations of this historical period draw from his works to some degree

[goddammitjosef-deactivated20250]

ah i actually have the merezhkovsky novel!! im reading it but struggling due to my lack of fluency in russian but its a good way to learn

also the monograph sounds really good since im writing an essay for fun comparing alexander and napoleon so yay

[ciderbird]

Damn yeah, Merezhkovsky might be a bit hard for beginners but I’m impressed you had it already) Good luck with your essay too!

And I actually remembered another book you might like. It’s called People of the Winter Palace by Igor Zimin (Люди Зимнего Дворца). It’s about the daily lives of monarchs, their families and staff, and it covers Alexander’s rule as well. There’s a lot of interesting insight about the Romanov family lives so even though it’s not about Alexander per se it’s still a very interesting read

[ciderbird]

what would you say the best russian language books on alexander are?

Well. That’s a tough one, I haven’t read many. I personally like Troitsky (Николай Троицкий), he wrote a lot about the 19 century and Napoleon but I only read «Александр 1 и Наполеон» it’s a monograph about their respective lives and rule that seems quite informative on both.

if you want something more fictionalized try Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s novels. He wrote one on Paul’s assassination and one on Alexander, as part of a larger trilogy (Царство Зверя). I’m not a fan of how he portrays them but it is quite a revered part of russian literature and most adaptations of this historical period draw from his works to some degree

[ciderbird]

Wait, did you seriously claim Alexander didn't have any kids??? *Maria Naryshkina enters the chat*

Seriously I get completely disregarding Elizaveta's children, because they might not have been fathered by him, but what is your explanation for Maria and her kids (setting aside all those other people who claimed, with varying levels of believability, to be his illegitimate children)?

When I said in one of the posts that Alexander didn’t have any kids it was, admittedly, a speculation on my part.

What I meant was that all children allegedly fathered by him had other possible fathers. Notably, Naryshkina remained married to her husband the entire duration of their affair and could still have kids from him (not to mention her other suitors). I mean Alexander did recognize some of them as his own but it’s not certain and some historians point to his possible reproductive problems as an explanation for this. It is commonly believed that 3 of her 5 daughters were from Alexander but that’s as much of a confirmation as we can get.

I’m pretty sure Elizaveta’s children weren’t his, it was a bit of an open secret because the couple barely even lived together. But neither survived regardless, not even his alleged daughters from Naryshkina. He really didn’t get any luck with securing heirs

[ciderbird]

average Napoleonic era fan experience

[ciderbird]

i can’t believe that “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” by Stromae & Pomme is a song that exists and NO one made napalex edits/fanart about it. It’s about being in love with your enemy. It’s about a doomed relationship. It’s in FRENCH

[ciderbird]

[kelvinthegoatt]

Guess the redraw

[ciderbird]

“Bonaparte claims that I am only an idiot. He who laughs last laughs best! And I put my hope in God.”

Emperor Alexander I would write this letter to his sister Catherine in June 1807, shortly before setting off for Tilsit. And then four days after meeting Napoleon would follow it up by this:

“God has saved us: instead of sacrifices, we get out of the struggle with a kind of luster. But what do you think of all these events? Me, spending my days with Bonaparte, to be whole hours in tête-à-tête with him! I ask you if all that seems a little like a dream! It is past midnight and he has only just left. Oh, I wish you could have invisibly witnessed all that happened.”

I imagine him writing this letter on his bed kicking his feet like a schoolgirl

[ciderbird]

i think you'd gind this funny but you obviously know that one napoleonic reenactor? mark schiender? one time he did a reenactment with an alexander reenactor and posted it on instagram to which the majority of the comments were something about napalex or tilsit or them kissing, he liked them and responded with blushing emojis

ooh, that’s cool, I’m not on instagram so I haven’t actually heard of him but sounds delightful)

but I know some actual russian historian who used to be a napoleonic reenactor and wrote a few books on Napoleonic wars but he’s in prison rn for killing and dismembering his girlfriend which might or might not have been caused by his beef with another russian historian who also wrote a book on napoleon but disagreed with him despite them both being huge bonapartists regardless

[goddammitjosef-deactivated20250]

mark schiender is also known for getting a DUI for the time he hit an elferly woman with his car while drunk driving (he didnt kill her dw)

criminal you forgot to mention the other bonapartist historian he had beef with became an internet meme (so huge that NAVALNY OF ALL PEOPLE have mentioned it + plus it won top 5 memes of the decade on VK polls in 2020)

Вы думаете, что я вас не переиграю? Я вас уничтожу! — Википедия

there was like a third napoleonic historian who also had beef with ponasenkov (because god forbid this man doesnt commit historical revisionism) and he wasnt a bonapartist--he was a communist! and to be honest, i think ill be him one day

[ciderbird]

oh yeah I meant Ponasenkov, he’s a huge meme in Russia but when you actually watch some of his ‘historical’ videos on youtube… well it’s not so funny. Guy literally blames the entire 1812 campaign on Alexander.

And MAN the Sokolov trial case is more dramatic than Depp/Heard divorce. Ponasenkov actually showed up there talking about his book and making it all somehow about HIM even though he was accused of goading his fans to attack Sokolov and send him death threats (true) and Sokolov essentially blamed him for his frayed mental state at the time. Whole this was wild

[sambre-et-meuse1796-deactivated]

It's just amazing how many interesting individuals there are in the Napoleonic fandom, and the reenactment fandom. I actually know Mark, or rather, knew him. Back in 1999 I believe, we had a reenactment down in Baltimore, and that's where I met him, he was a member of the seventh hussars. I have pictures here somewhere...he's a really nice guy, but yeah a bit wild.

It's really sobering to think that a lot of the men that I knew in the reenactment groups from the late 90s early 2000s are more than likely gone now, at least a few of them. One was rather old, and I'm sure he's gone on to his reward. You know when you've been in a period of history or a fandom as long as I have been, it just seems so surreal at times to see the younger crowd getting into it, and going oh my God I remember when. I don't remember the controversy, of the other reenactors that you guys are speaking of, but that was probably because from 2002 to 2012, I was really out of it into another period of history.

[ciderbird]

i think you'd gind this funny but you obviously know that one napoleonic reenactor? mark schiender? one time he did a reenactment with an alexander reenactor and posted it on instagram to which the majority of the comments were something about napalex or tilsit or them kissing, he liked them and responded with blushing emojis

ooh, that’s cool, I’m not on instagram so I haven’t actually heard of him but sounds delightful)

but I know some actual russian historian who used to be a napoleonic reenactor and wrote a few books on Napoleonic wars but he’s in prison rn for killing and dismembering his girlfriend which might or might not have been caused by his beef with another russian historian who also wrote a book on napoleon but disagreed with him despite them both being huge bonapartists regardless

[goddammitjosef-deactivated20250]

mark schiender is also known for getting a DUI for the time he hit an elferly woman with his car while drunk driving (he didnt kill her dw)

criminal you forgot to mention the other bonapartist historian he had beef with became an internet meme (so huge that NAVALNY OF ALL PEOPLE have mentioned it + plus it won top 5 memes of the decade on VK polls in 2020)

Вы думаете, что я вас не переиграю? Я вас уничтожу! — Википедия

there was like a third napoleonic historian who also had beef with ponasenkov (because god forbid this man doesnt commit historical revisionism) and he wasnt a bonapartist--he was a communist! and to be honest, i think ill be him one day

[ciderbird]

oh yeah I meant Ponasenkov, he’s a huge meme in Russia but when you actually watch some of his ‘historical’ videos on youtube… well it’s not so funny. Guy literally blames the entire 1812 campaign on Alexander.

And MAN the Sokolov trial case is more dramatic than Depp/Heard divorce. Ponasenkov actually showed up there talking about his book and making it all somehow about HIM even though he was accused of goading his fans to attack Sokolov and send him death threats (true) and Sokolov essentially blamed him for his frayed mental state at the time. Whole this was wild

[ciderbird]

i think you'd gind this funny but you obviously know that one napoleonic reenactor? mark schiender? one time he did a reenactment with an alexander reenactor and posted it on instagram to which the majority of the comments were something about napalex or tilsit or them kissing, he liked them and responded with blushing emojis

ooh, that’s cool, I’m not on instagram so I haven’t actually heard of him but sounds delightful)

but I know some actual russian historian who used to be a napoleonic reenactor and wrote a few books on Napoleonic wars but he’s in prison rn for killing and dismembering his girlfriend which might or might not have been caused by his beef with another russian historian who also wrote a book on napoleon but disagreed with him despite them both being huge bonapartists regardless

[howlerbat]

Adam Zamoyski on the Russian campaign in a debate “Napoleon the great?” with Andrew Roberts