#Natasha x Hélène

[officialleotolstoy]

7, 8, 16, and 22! <3

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

Pierre. I loved Comet Pierre and I think his book counterpart is more annoying but still a fascinating and at times sympathetic character. However, I’ve had to turn into a hater because everyone and their mother acts like he’s a perfect angel who can do no wrong. Dave Malloy syndrome

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

DANATOLE. I have written paragraphs upon paragraphs about this but everyone is so wrong about them and I’m the only one that understands. If they aren’t horrible for each other and toxic and the worst men on earth you aren’t doing it right I don’t take criticism. Also much more minor but I hate Danatole as a ship name it’s so ugly

Also, people act like Marya D is such a good godmother but completely brush over the atrocious way she treated Sonya. I promise I’m not a hater of hers I just think she should be allowed to have flaws

16. You can’t understand why so many people like this thing:

MARYA D X HÉLÈNE. I know it comes from Grace McLean’s ensemble character Katya and Hélène making out in the Abduction sequence but why did everyone collectively decide that’s MARYA D. Katya was free real estate to give Hélène a gf and you all ignored that. Shame on you.

22. Your favorite part of canon everyone ignores:

The Marya B and Natasha closeness arc that happens after Andrei died. They fell in love and I will die on that hill. No one talks about this and I can’t believe it

[ourladyofeternity]

Updating pinned post.

This is an Amber Gray & Patrick Page stan account. Thank you

I have a new hymn and probably lockscreen

[pilot-of-a-cruel-machine]

I suppose, if no one else is going to make Natasha x Hélène content, it's gonna be ME

[droughtofapathy]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Malloy, Voyná i mir | War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Marya Dmitryevna Akhrosimova/Elena "Hélène" Vasilyevna Kuragina Characters: Marya Dmitryevna Akhrosimova, Elena "Hélène" Vasilyevna Kuragina Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - World War I, Russian Diaspora, Angst, Pining, First Time, Internalized Homophobia, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Insecurity, Religious Guilt Summary:

In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, Marya Dmitryevna flees Moscow with the rest of Russia's elite. With no money and no status, Marya must brave the dangers of wartime factories to survive. And worse, in a cruel twist of fate she's become flatmates with none other than the Queen of Society herself, Elena Kuragina. Happily divorced, and still every bit the beloved socialite, Elena drinks and dances her weekends away, much to Marya's disapproval. But when Hélène brings home a giggling young woman and pleasures her on the side of Marya's wall while she listens in...horror...it awakens something in Marya that can never be put back to sleep.

[madscientiststvstatic]

Alright I’m gonna get super into Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 again so heads up everyone

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Are there any fics with established Marya/Hélène where Hélène was still involved in Natasha and Anatole's attempted elopement and Marya finds out

[thecharmingunground]

If you think that when I eventually have a house/apartment of my own, that I will be dressing up as Marya D from Great Comet while 'My House' blares through surround speakers while I sing along, (the speakers being 'unintentionally' placed around my confused/terrified guest who asked where the bathroom was),

You'd be correct.

[helenekuraginaarc]

insp.

[alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer]

Friendly reminder that Hélène & Marya have a canon make out scene in the Great Comet

[venussheglows]

Marya x Hélène or Hades x Persephone? Sonya’s costume or Natasha’s? Anatole or Hélène? Orpheus or Eurydice?

1) Hades x Persephone. They’re my favorite ship! (at least Hadestown context)

2) Natasha’s costumes are amazing!

3) Hélène is infinitely better than Rat Man™

[officialleotolstoy]

Oh Anatole Brainrot* We’re Really In It Now, aka Anatole playlist annotations!

*I only have brainrot about him in terms of his relationships with Hélène and Dolokhov idc about him on his own 🤢

This playlist is infuriating because it has so many good songs on it and he does NOT deserve to have a playlist that slaps so hard :/

My Type - Saint Motel

“You’re just my type; you’ve got a pulse and you are breathing”

The lyrics are literally just I Will Have Sex With Anything That Breathes which is Anatole’s only personality trait. It just is.

Fool For Love - Lord Huron

“I’m asking her to be my bride, I know there’s another man but he ain’t gonna delay my plans”

This song is about eloping with a girl who already has a boyfriend, it is THE Comet section Anatole song. Which angers me because it’s such a good song, it doesn’t deserve to be associated with him in my head.

The Cult of Dionysus - The Orion Experience

“Wine and women and wonderful vices”

HEDONISM BABEY!!! Also the phrase “wine and women” with “he spends his money on women and wine” in Comet...makes ya think.

Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic

“Look so good I might die, all I know is everybody loves me”

You know that quote that’s like “[Anatole] cultivated an air of superiority blah blah blah whatever” (paraphrased)? This is that in song form.

Bedroom Hymns - Florence + The Machine

“The wine and the women and the bedroom hymns”

Thottery AND the phrase “wine and women”? Anatolecore.

Talk - Hozier

“I’ll try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I’m imagining you”

I think if he needs to, Anatole can sugarcoat carnal desire with pretty words. It kind of comes down to “I’m pretending to be eloquently and romantically interested in you but I really just want to have s*x with you”. He might not have that much self-control, but the bottom line is that this song is horny and so is he.

Someone New - Hozier

“I wake at the first cringe of morning and my heart’s already sinned”

All my notes say is “commitment issues thot anthem” which is fair. I think it’s physically impossible for him not to fall in love with someone new every week, which is the entire point of this song. Also “you knew who I was with every step that I ran to you” tracks, Anatole doesn’t really try to hide it.

Paradise City - Guns N’ Roses

“Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty”

I won’t lie, I’m not sure if this is what the song is actually about but that bit at least has hedonism energy. Also this came up on genius lyrics and it feels like something Anatole would do:

Hallelujah - Panic! At The Disco

“I got caught under the covers with secondhand lovers”

Ok whore. But also the vibes of knowing you’re a sinner and reveling in it feels like Anatole. It’s the complete lack of shame for me.

Why Should I Worry - Billy Joel

“Why should I worry? Why should I care?”

Has he ever actually cared about anything other than his own personal wellbeing? Jury’s still out. This song implies he has street smarts which may not be true but not every lyric is gonna work 😔✌🏻

Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel

“I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, the sinners are much more fun”

The entire song is just seducing a devoutly Catholic girl, and it doesnt exactly work but I always assign this in my head to that time he tried to marry Marya B. But just in general, the reckless seduction vibes work.

Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega

“To me flirting is just like a sport”

Unironically this is such an Anatole song. Listing off all his different lovers and their attributes is absolutely something he’s done. This is just a carefree thot song which is his vibe.

Ex’s and Oh’s - Elle King

“Ex’s and oh’s they haunt me like ghosts”

This is also on the Hélène playlist but this time the ex messing things up is his wife (not that any of that was her fault). I also think the general vibes of “I’m gonna make you want me so much and then leave you” are Anatoleish

Rasputin - Boney M.

“Russia’s greatest love machine”

LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TELL ME THIS DOESN’T WORK. It’s about the seduction of upper-class Russian women come ON

I’m Born To Run - American Authors

“I’m gonna live my life like I’m gonna die young”

This is almost a more wholesome version of his careless hedonism, more skewed toward seeing the world rather than just having drunken fun but the energy is still there

Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen

“Tonight I’m gonna have myself a real good time”

It’s the “having fun is the only thing that matters” mindset. He doesn’t deserve this song 😔

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

I don’t have a lyric for this one, it’s just like. Yes I am a professional flirter! He is not this into commitment but i imagine he tells a new person this every week.

Oops!...I Did It Again - Britney Spears

“But to lose all my senses, that is just so typically me”

The lack of commitment and not treating relationships seriously is very Anatole, and so is the refusal to take responsibility for the heartbreak you directly caused.

How Bad Can I Be? - The Lorax

“How bad can I be? I’m just doing what comes naturally”

I KNOW I KNOW. HEAR ME OUT. This is pretty much Tolstoy’s “defense” of him verbatim. It’s the idea that he’s just so naturally like this it has never occurred to him to be any other way or to think about other people’s wellbeing. Anatole is the Onceler and Natasha is a straight girl on tumblr circa 2012.

Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars

“When I play, I never stay”

He would never be this self-aware, but otherwise it fits. The whole thing is about an inability to commit and a propensity for causing heartbreak. Also, I’ve had a grudge against this song for years and the blind rage it fills me with is reminiscent of the blind rage Anatole fills me with.

California Girls - The Beach Boys

“I’ve been all around this great big world and I’ve seen all kinds of girls”

This song is like, “What if we objectified every woman ever but made it a bop?” which is massive Anatole energy I think.

Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crüe

“I just need a new toy”

Literally the exact same justification as California Girls

It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls

If I’m gonna add songs about objectifying women, I’m gonna add songs about objectifying men too. Equal opportunity whorery.

Parental Guidance - Judas Priest

“You say I waste my life away but I live it to the full”

This is just him to Vassily. Refusing to be controlled by your parents’ expectations and just going off to have fun is Vassily’s whole gripe with him and also the point of this song.

How To Be A Heartbreaker - MARINA

“You gotta have fun, but baby when you’re done you gotta be the first to run”

The bits about not getting close to anyone because you’re afraid of getting hurt don’t really apply but the “here’s how to make people like you and also we are for sure not staying together this is just for fun” definitely fit.

The STD Song - Top Memes

“Sinning with your naked bod is evil and atrocious”

I uh. I forgot this was on here but I was RIGHT when I added it. This is the lecture Vassily gives him after his Polish wife debacle-

Do It All The Time - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

“I’m only doing anything I want to do because I do it all the time”

He literally just does whatever he wants without thinking about the consequences. It’s just got huge entitled kid thot energy which is Anatole’s whole character. And the line “I’m taking your girl and I’m making her mine” is deeply Anatoleish.

Until The Night Turns - Lord Huron

“I got a helluva view for the end of the world, I've got a bottle of booze and a beautiful girl”

This doesn’t fit into any particular situation but I do think if the world was ending and Anatole was drunk with a pretty lady he would have this exact reaction. Also the repetition of the word sunrise (which is what the name Anatole means) is just a fun little extra bit.

Girls - The 1975

“What’s the fun in doing what you’re told?”

Rebellious kid energy! Also “she can’t be what you need if she’s 17” is everyone with morals @ him about Natasha (I know she was 19 at the time shh it’s about the energy).

Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) - The Offspring

“In his own mind he’s the dopest trip”

This man is The Worst but he really thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips huh! Literally everyone can tell he’s not the brightest bulb in the bunch EXCEPT HIM. Smh.

[balaga]

Do you ship Hélène x Natasha or Hélène x Marya more? Also, I just gotta say, Javert is pretty darn gay....

i like hélène x marya better as an actual couple. hélène was definitely natasha's gay awakening tho

javert is gay and trans victor hugo told me himself

[incorrectlit]

andrei bolkonsky and pierre bezukhov for the character build thing!

I’m going modern au for both! Let’s start with Andrei:

BASICS:

- full name: Andrei Nikolaevich Bolkonsky

- Gender: male

- Sexuality: bisexual (leaning straight)

- Pronouns: he/him

OTHERS:

- family: Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky I (father), Marya Nikolaevna Bolkonskaya (sister), Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky II (infant son)

- Birthplace: Bald Hills estate

- Job: he’s an economist

- Phobias: PTSD from childhood abuse

- Guilty pleasures: WEED. He’s a surprisingly huge stoner

MORALS:

- morality alignment: lawful neutral

- Sins: lust/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/envy/wrath

- Virtues: chastity/charity/diligence/humility/kindness/patience/justice

THIS OR THAT:

- Introvert/extrovert: introvert

- Organized/disorganized: surprisingly disorganized

- Close-minded/open-minded: close-minded...

- Calm/anxious: calm

- Agreeable/disagreeable: disagreeable. He comes off as a dick when you first meet him, but he gets better as you get to know him.

- Cautious/reckless: cautious

- Patient/impatient: impatient

- Outspoken/reserved: reserved

- Leader/follower: leader

- Empathetic/unempathetic: generally empathetic, but still prone to putting his own emotions above others

- Optimistic/pessimistic: pessimistic

- Traditional/modern: traditional

- Hard-working/lazy: hard-working

RELATIONSHIPS:

- OTP: Andreirre (Andrei x Pierre)

- OT3: Andrierretasha (Andrei x Pierre x Natasha)

- Brotp: he and Marya B/Mary

- NoTP: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh his first wife lol

Pierre (Mr. Tolstoy-Self-Insert himself):

BASICS:

- full name: Pyotr Kirillovich Bezukhov

- Gender: trans man

- Sexuality: bisexual

- Pronouns: he/him

OTHERS:

- family: Kirill Bezukhov (father)

- Birthplace: St. Petersburg

- Job: PhD student working on his dissertation

- Phobias: none but he does have social anxiety

- Guilty pleasures: drinking too much

MORALS:

- morality alignment: chaotic good

- Sins: lust/greed/gluttony/sloth/pride/envy/wrath

- Virtues: chastity/charity/diligence/humility/kindness/patience/justice

THIS OR THAT:

- Introvert/extrovert: VERY introverted

- Organized/disorganized: incredibly disorganized lmao

- Close-minded/open-minded: open-minded

- Calm/anxious: anxious. Like I said, he’s got social anxiety

- Agreeable/disagreeable: disagreeable and quick to argue

- Cautious/reckless: reckless

- Patient/impatient: patient

- Outspoken/reserved: outspoken about his beliefs

- Leader/follower: follower

- Empathetic/unempathetic: empathetic

- Optimistic/pessimistic: SOOOOO pessimistic

- Traditional/modern: traditional

- Hard-working/lazy: hard-working. He’s working on his dissertation, so he’s studying all the damn time

RELATIONSHIPS:

- OTP: Andrierre or Pierretasha

- OT3: Andrierretasha!

- Brotp: he and Andrei. Also Dolokhov and Anatole dragging him into their dumbass schemes

- NoTP: Hélène. Their relationship is just too toxic

[sedmikrascino]

Rules: Answer the 20 questions and tag 20 other people!

Tagged by @zelvuska thank you sweetheart <33

Name: Daisy

Nickname: That bitch

Zodiac sign: [REDACTED]

Height: 1,55 m RIP, one of the people who have to ask other ppl in stores to help them get stuff from the top shelves

Favourite season: Spring !! Not too hot, not too cold, flowers blooming, long days, the perfect season for cute outfits

Favourite flower: Sunflower !! Literally my trademark item, they're so fucking pretty. If you ever want to give me a flower, make it a sunflower

Favourite scent: Cinnamon! Or literally any of these christmas scented yankee candles, I could sniff them all day long sjshdb

Favourite colour: Yellow!

Favourite animal: Hmmm probably a toucan? They're so aesthetically pleading djdnndjf i don't think I've ever seen a real one though.

Favourite fictional character: if i had to choose I'd probably go for Hunter x Hunter's Kurapika (though the entire cast is bomb af). Other than him, Pokemon's Team Rocket, The Good Place's Michael or Hélène and Natasha from the Great Comet.

Tea/coffee/hot chocolate: None. I don't like hot drinks, actually.

Average sleep hours: Around 6 on an average school day. Now around 8 (3 am to 11 am)

Dog or cat person: cats!!

Number of blankets you sleep with: Just one here in Czechia but three when I was in England. So fucking cold!

Dream trip: I actually made my dream trip last year, to Tokio and Dubai, so now my dream is LA and San Fran (where I was supposed to go this summer but ,,, never mind I guess :"D)

Blog estabilished: Summer of 2019?

Followers: WAYS too many for the kind of content i post, i should have like one lmao

Random fact: When I was like seven, I used to collect lip balms. One day they mysteriously disappeared and I've never found them.

I'm going to tag only my three closest bois: @skyekg @slonvporcelanu @prazakodprazaku

[lena-kuragina]

F, H, S, V, X, Y ;)

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK MY PAL MY DUDE MY FREN <3

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“How did you know?” he asked, and for the first time in a while, there was barely any resentment or malice in his voice when he addressed her.

“You were cruel,” Hélène said quietly. “And nothing makes a person crueler than love.”

“You’d know better than I about cruelty,” Pierre snapped.

“I would ruin a hundred Natasha Rostovas for Anatole, and I would never lose sleep over it. You would threaten a child for her and call it honor. Love makes monsters of us all, husband, even you.”

“Anatole is not a child.”

“He might as well be. He is thoughtless and impulsive. He’s not unfeeling, but he rarely bears others in mind.”

“And yet you continue to defend him.”

“Of course.” She smiled to herself, something vulnerable and sweet that Pierre immediately knew was not for him. “I was there when he learned how to walk, the first time he smiled, and the first time he ever fell in love with someone he shouldn’t have. My mother used to say that his first word was Lena. He’s my brother, for all his flaws. Though I don’t imagine you’d be able to understand.”

I really feel that Pierre and Hélène’s dynamic isn’t something that people choose to write about often, and it’s brimming with a lot of tension and fun interesting things. I really liked this snippet when I wrote it, because it was the first time that the two of them were really seeing each other as they are, and it gave me a lot of fun material to exploit.

H: How would you describe your style?

I CAN ONLY WRITE DIALOGUE WHO IS PROSE I DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT BITCH

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

Hurt/ comfort is my trope of choice

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I am already obsessed with Nobler in the Mind (a relatively new Great Comet fic inspired by Stranger Things), and even though there’s only one chapter up, the mythos the authors established SUCKED me in. I’m dying to read more and pick their brains. Also literally anything Mephistophelia has published in the Great Comet AO3. 

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

The kuragins and dolokhov (+ sometimes Andrei)

Y: A character you want to protect.

Sonya Rostova and Marya, occasionally Andrei

[rosewaterbaptism]

Helene and Natasha for the character ask game!

I was HOPING someone would ask about Helene, thank you so much!!!

Hélène:

Favourite thing about them: Prepare for an essay. You’ve been warned.

It’s no secret that Hélène is my favourite GC character, and one of my favourite characters in anything, ever. But why do I love her so much? It’s the depth, man. It would be so easy to make her a one-dimensional Stock Female Villain but neither Dave nor Amber let that happen, and for that I’m so grateful. On the surface she’s a shiny, rich, beautiful, perfect Moscovite, but underneath her polished veneer there are ripples of darkness just waiting to seep out. She is capable of feeling immense sadness, as evidenced in the aftermath of The Duel, as well as during interactions between Pierre and Natasha. On that note, she outwardly displays contempt and scorn towards her husband, and it would be easier from a writing perspective to leave it at that, but her feelings towards Pierre are complicated by the fact that she Doesn’t want him to be killed in the duel, actively fears him and his violence in Pierre & Anatole, and feels ??? sadness? jealousy? Some kind of emotion during Pierre & Natasha.  But the thing I love most about her? Her capacity to love, and love deeply with all her heart. She LOVES Anatole!!! She’d do anything for him!!! He might be her best friend in the world, the only person who truly gets her!! And so someone who is capable of scorn and heartless manipulation is also capable of selfless love and devotion. Furthermore, there are Tremors of pain which lie beneath the surface of her character. Her drinking, partying, and seduction seem like evidence that she’s living the witless hedonistic life that’s expected of the Russian aristocracy of the time, but in actual fact those vices are symptomatic of a deep underlying melancholy and are, in fact, acting as an antidote to an unhappy life rather than evidence of a happy one thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

TL;DR I like her because she’s Complex :+)

Least favourite thing about them: That she isn’t real :(((((((((((

Favourite line: “What can I say, it’s a gift” :(

brOTP: Hélène + Anatole + Dolokhov are the Holy Trinity 

OTP: Hélène + Marya

nOTP: Hélène + Anatole 

Random headcanon: I literally have SO MANY. But we’ll stick with this: High School AU Hélène is a cheerleader who is both Super Popular and almost universally hated by all the girls in the school because of her laissez faire attitude and liberal sexuality. The same girls who tell her that she’s SO pretty to her face will turn around and call her a slut behind her back. She skips class sometimes to smoke a cigarette or two. She always has her nails painted black. She has a million “friends” but her only Real Friends are Anatole and Dolokhov. She often feels an ache in her chest but she can’t place the source. She knows she’s supposed to be happy but she always feels like there’s something missing.

Unpopular opinion: Hélène Vasilevna Bezukhova has done nothing wrong in her life, ever.

Song I associate with them: I feel like Modern AU Hélène would really like Stolen Dance by Milky Chance sdjkf I know it’s random but that’s my Hélène Song. 

Favourite picture of them:

I’m putting Natasha under the cut because this post is already too long lol

Natasha:

Favourite thing about them: @ the end of the musical when she accepts how much she’s Fucked Up. I appreciate her hindsight and ability to admit to her mistakes. And the remorse she truly feels for hurting Andrey. I feel like she’s aged 10 years in that scene. She’s so levelled and mature. I Really like that she learns from her mistakes. 

Least favourite thing about them: Her lack of foresight. When I was 19, and even younger actually, all I could think about was my future. How one wrong move, one small mistake, could completely fuck everything up for me. Therefore, as a formerly overly cautious, neurotic teen, it’s hard for me to see a character running around the stage like “LALALALALA CONSEQUENCES WHAT ARE CONSEQUENCES MY ACTIONS HAVE NO IMPACT ON MY LIFE OR THE LIVES OF OTHER PEOPLE WHATSOEVER LALALALA” (Mind you, all that Worrying about my future didn’t actually prevent me from fucking it up in the exact same way that Natasha did so take from that what you will lol)

Also, I don’t like how much of a braggart she is. “Looking in the glass I see I am pretty” + “I know they’ll like me, everyone has always liked me” bother me on a DEEP level as someone who has always felt Ugly and Unlikable. :\

Favourite line: “I am seized by feelings of vanity and fear / There is no barrier between us / Whispers and moans, and ringing in my ear / There is no barrier between us / Divine, delicious, but I do not see or hear anything / I’m borne away to a senseless world / So strange, so remote”

brOTP: Natasha x Sonya

OTP: I like the dynamic of Natasha x Anatole because I think they’re both a huge mess but I don’t see that relationship ACTUALLY working out because… they’re both a huge mess lol

nOTP: not that I’m ~~~anti Natasha x Andrey or Natasha x Pierre, not at all really. It’s just that those ships don’t interest me at all and therefore I never actively seek them out in fanfic. 

Random headcanon: Modern AU Natasha LOVES trashy romcoms.

Unpopular opinion: Idk if this is an opinion really, I just don’t get how her thought process works?? I don’t get how she can jump from “I 110% LOVE Andrey he’s The One” to “I 110% LOVE Anatole he’s The One” in all of three days? I just feel like I really can’t relate to Natasha. (Except for at the end when she’s fucked up her life beyond repair and needs to stand in the smouldering ruins of her once-peaceful life, choking on the fetid ashes of her horrible decisions now that I can relate to!!)

Song I associate with them: Boys by Charli XCX lol

Favourite picture of them: 

in 19th century russia we love SHOBA WE LOVE SHOBA!!!!!!!!!