#I was originally thinking of Anatole Kuragin

[hwashitape]

workshopping a Limbus OC……… idk!!

[leek-inherent]

I love your mlp/w&p art, could I ask how the Kuragin siblings + Dolokhov got their cutie marks?

Original post

Hi, thanks so much for the ask! I didn't think too hard about this when designing the ponies but I am happy to make some stuff up right now. To explain cutie marks a bit, each pony has a literal 'talent' and then a more conceptual 'purpose' that comes with their cutie mark. (For example Pinkie Pie's talent is party planning, and her purpose is making others smile)

Dolokhov's talent is being clever, violent, and impossible to ignore or forget. He uses his talent to manipulate other ponies into giving him exactly what he wants (status, money, and entertainment). He probably got his cutie mark for committing pony murder.

In Anatole's case the talent is charming mares and partying and his purpose is being completely carefree and having everything work out fine somehow. He probably got his cutie mark when he hosted a disastrous party where everything went wrong, but everypony had a good time anyway because his unwavering confidence and good looks are enough to convince anypony they are having the time of their lives.

Helene's talent is socialising and her purpose is being loved and admired by all <3. I imagine she earned her cutie mark at some ball where everypony was gossiping and criticising her for some reason or other, but over the course of the night she managed to win over every single pony there.

The cutie marks for reference.

[officialleotolstoy]

Anatole

GOD. okay. anatole “he generally thought little” kuragin has an iq of 3 and a half and he uses every one of those brain cells to come up with ways to irritate me specifically. there is not a day that goes by that i don’t think about how i want to see this man behind bars. i literally cannot think of a single redeeming quality he has. he thinks he’s god’s gift to women but i’m heavily skeptical of the idea that god had ANYTHING to do with his creation. he fills me with rage like no other character and it’s honestly hard to articulate. if i ever violate the geneva convention you’ll know who pushed me to do it! you know that tik tok about the person who claimed to have shifted to the harry potter universe and just murdered draco malfoy? anatole is lucky i don’t believe in reality shifting because if i could do it he’d be the first to go. i was tempted to just copy paste the entire jurgen leitner monologue but make it say anatole kuragin except that i already saw someone else do it and i want to be original

and of course, the ultimate roast: he’s the straightest of all the significant characters in war and peace. there. i said it. anatole kuragin, known heterosexual,

[rebamacncheese]

THSR Designer’s Notes: Villain!

Alright, so this will be the first in a series of posts where I break down the design choices I made in my illustrated Frozen 3 fan-script, True Hans Soul Rebel. Link here if you haven’t read it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113293/chapters/66207733

I put a lot of thought into this, and I just want to show it off... 

First up is the Villain!Hans look. 

At the start of THSR, Hans has fully embraced their role as a villain, to the point where they are trying a bit too hard with it. Obvious dastardly fashion choices are the black top hat, taken from Ratigan,  evil eye-shadow, and the black gloves, which invert Hans’ white gloves from Frozen 1.

It’s a well analyzed aspect of Frozen’s design language that fitted gloves correspond to some kind of concealment or falseness - Elsa’s teal gloves, famously, being how she concealed her powers, and Hans’ white gloves allude to how he pretended to the pure “white” prince for Anna. With that in mind, the black gloves in THSR are meant to show the reverse - that Hans’ posturing as a cartoonish black-hearted villain is just as much a façade as the flawless hero was. 

On the vein of color, something amazing I discovered is that Hans’ coat in the original movie - the one he wears when he is attacking Elsa - used the same colors as Elsa’s Ice Queen dress. Aqua-blue and cerulean, but muted and desaturated.

Given everything Elsa’s dress represents about reclaiming deviancy, having Hans in mirrored coloring when he gives into his own strikes me as important to say the least. Furthermore, Hans’ version of the palette echoes the dark waves, the stormy sea, that took the sister’s parents. Chef’s kiss. 

So, for the Villain!Hans look, I had to lean into that palette - applying different shades of that aqua-blue to the rest of their suit underneath - but tweaked the silhouette. The giant flared lapels of the long coat makes for a more classic villain look - lines pointing out and up the chest to project power  - and the long coat’s fabulous flowing tails echoe the cape of Elsa’s famous ice dress. 

Here’s an earlier draft, when the coat was more cape-like.

I did that before I saw clips from The Great Comet of 1812 musical and Anatole Kuragin. 

The minute I saw this coat, I had to steal it for Hans. And the characters have a kind of kinship to me, as subversions of the charming prince archetype. The coat is a bit out of date on Hans - Frozen is set in a fantasy 1830s-1840s (depending on who you ask). But if you are a villain, no longer bound by polite society, I think a shamelessly dated artifact like this would be a kind of chaotic power move on its own. Just rolling up, wearing giant 80s shoulder pads to a 00s party, because taste is for cops. 

I suppose I should also talk about Villain!Hans’ hair -  since that is a pretty striking alteration from F1 - but it’s really more important to Marie’s design, if that makes sense. Hans has long hair because the character is about to be transitioned with magic HRT, and the plot will depend on her ability to pass as cisgender around the people who hate her former identity. But there are proper in-story character driven reasons for this change. The long hair shows passage of time - Hans has lived almost four years since we last saw them, and they’ve developed as a person as much as the rest of the Frozen cast has. Long hair also shows gender non-conformity on a man, and a kind of wildness - the reverse of the slick prince cut. 

In all, the goal of this design was to give Hans a Queer Villain makeover.  Charismatic, over the top, something to strut around in while belting out a wicked banger you can taste the vintage Disney on. Honestly, I was a bit worried that this look might be too cool, since its destroyed after the first sequence. 

But if you know what’s coming next, I really shouldn’t have been. Watch this space :)

[shinythinqs]

FRANCESCA ZABINI really is the spitting image of CHINA ANNE MCCLAIN, right? For someone only 20 years old, FRANKIE has been forced to endure so much. Yeah, that PUREBLOOD has been scraping by at the sanctuary since OCTOBER, 2028, working as a SUPPLY/WEAPONS RUNNER in the DIVISION OF FORAGE. SHE is a CIS WOMAN and is known to be SNEAKY and DISHONEST but also INVENTIVE and STRATEGIC. Best of luck surviving through this.

CHARACTER PARALLELS: debbie ocean (ocean’s 8), lou (ocean’s 8), amethyst (steven universe), mundungus fletcher (harry potter), veronica rawlings (widows), anatole kuragin (natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812), edmund pevensie (the chronicles of narnia).

i. a comprehensive list of things that frankie zabini is NOT here for: 

your shit

ii. francesca learned pretty early on that she wasn’t like her siblings — not brilliant like nadia, not dependable and “eldest boy” (which she swears is a personality trait) like elijah. amalia zabini, her grandmother, the woman she credits with raising her (because blaise wouldn’t? couldn’t? frankie stopped asking that question a long time ago) once took her by the chin, looked her in the eyes, and said, “despite everything, i think you’ll make a fine slytherin.”

iii. for the most part, she was! she didn’t do too badly in school, but she didn’t wow any professors either. instead, she realized a few things growing up: for one, she’s sneaky. or sly or cunning as the sorting hat terms it — frankie calls it sneaky. this is where being ordinary comes in handy; no one noticed her copying a classmate’s answers, lurking in corridors past curfew, slipping bracelets off of too-thin wrists. francesca knows she shouldn’t do any of those things, but she’s so good at it, and it would make her sad to waste her talents. she never tells her siblings, though. 

iv. the second thing she realizes is this: she doesn’t mind non-slytherins. or muggleborns. she makes friends and enemies across the houses and blood types and quickly becomes frankie rather than francesca zabini -- and she likes that. 

v. frankie quickly went from taking other people’s things to taking money, artifacts -- but she’s smart about it. she knows how to go unnoticed and when not to risk her cover; she’s fleecing first-and-second-years by selling stolen sweets and goods from hogsmede.

vi. the more she steals, the more her family takes notice, especially after she finishes at hogwarts and never seems to have a job. it strains her already difficult relationship with nadia and blaise especially, and she finds herself wanting to leave the uk more and more as time passes. 

vii. after a particularly vicious blowout with blaise in january 2027, frankie turned to international cons and crime to satiate her fix for risky behavior and give her an excuse to not come home. she forges qualifications to work on luxury yachts in the mediterranean in the muggle world as a stewardess, slipping into their rooms, stealing their finery and leaving behind magical duplicates that disappear into nothingness after they’ve been home for a few days already; she makes friends with muggle cons and sells these goods through shady channels. all in all, things are going well. 

viii. until they aren’t. part of the reason frankie doesn’t go home as soon as she learns of the outbreak is reluctance to face her family again, part of it is because being on the ocean off the coast of greece feels so far away from these inferi. there’s time spent in muggle jail after a ‘business partner’ sells her out, a snapped wand — now, frankie has arrived at hogwarts expecting a very angry family...or whatever is left of it. (DEATH TW, note: frankie doesn’t know her brother is dead yet! see nadia’s intro for more on that harrowing tale lmao). 

---

hello! i think in my original app i had frankie arriving at hogwarts in august, but that was back when the RP was set at that time! she has only been there for a few days and still getting the hang of looking out for others; no use in stealing when the economy collapses! frankie is still new to me and i’m working out some ideas, but i’m really excited to develop her! thanks to everyone for their patience in this trying time lmao! her stats are coming soon. 

[parentsofdustandashes-x]

RULES

Rules aren’t always fun, but they are sometimes necessary to keep things running smoothly.  I would love to write with you, but I’d like to set up a few rules before jumping into things. 

First thing’s first. You can call me Dennis or Orpheus. I am currently seventeen years old, making me a minor. I use he/him pronouns.

GENERAL RULES

I will not roleplay smut with anyone. 

I request that people ask me before diving into the following topics: Suicide, Self-Harm, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Trauma, and Sexual Assault. These topics can sometimes be triggering for me, so I would like discussion before bringing  it up out of nowhere so that I have time to prepare for it. I also request that these topics are tagged. 

If you need anything tagged as a trigger, just let me know and I will get to doing that as soon as possible. 

The actions and thoughts of my muses do not reflect my own personal thoughts or actions.

Please no godmodding. For the unaware, godmodding is when one person controls another person’s character. Please do not do this. 

I am very new to the tumblr rp community, though I have been roleplaying on other platforms for years. If I make a mistake, please let me know so that I can fix it! I’d rather be told than to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

Don’t be afraid to message me! I promise that I don’t bite. 

The rules will update along with new muses and as new rules come to mind.

HADESTOWN RULES

I will write for Persephone, Orpheus, or Hades from the show, as well as other mythological characters such as Zagreus, Melinoe, Makaria, Linus, Calais, Apollo, Dionysus, Eros, or others! Just ask what mythological characters I'd be willing to write for if you have one in mind that isn't listed.

My characters are based on the characters of Hadestown, but I do take inspiration from the myths at times. 

I am a Hellenic polytheist, meaning that my religion actually worships the ancient Greek gods. While you can portray the characters as awful, immoral, corrupt, or overall bad people, please do not speak badly about the actual gods they are inspired by. 

I play Persephone as someone struggling with alcoholism. I do not see alcoholism as something to be taken lightly, even if Persephone sometimes jokes about it and acts like she doesn’t have a problem. Alcoholism is a serious issue and I want it to be known that I take it incredibly seriously. 

I will not write Persephone and Hades’ relationship as abusive in any way. Dysfunctional? Yes. Struggling? Yes. Sometimes a bit toxic? Yes. But not abusive. I think the entire point is that they’re both a little at fault for the state of their marriage. 

I always portray Orpheus as bisexual, as he had both male and female lovers in his myths. 

I will write for almost any ship with any of my characters, but I do look for chemistry. Please do not try to force a ship onto me. 

GREAT COMET  RULES

I will play Fedya Dolokhov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Natasha Rostova, Hélène Kuragina, Pierre Bezukhov, and Anatole Kuragin from the show as well as Ippolit Kuragin and Nikolai Rostov from War and Peace.

I’m currently reading War and Peace and I’m a huge fan of the BBC 2016 miniseries, so I do borrow some characterization and background from those iterations of the characters, but characterization is based primarily on the musical.

I always portray Fedya Dolokhov as bisexual. 

I always portray Natasha Rostova as bisexual and polyamorous. 

I always portray Hélène Kuragina as pansexual and polyamorous. 

I always play Anatole as pansexual and polyamorous.

I portray many of these characters as very sex positive and open about their sexuality, mainly Hélène, Anatole, and Dolokhov. 

Many of these characters canonically have affairs and may not be 100% loyal lovers, mainly Hélène, Anatole, and Dolokhov.

As it concerns the implied incestuous relationship between Hélène and Anatole, I leave it up to you to decide. I am willing to play them as either completely platonic, romantic, or sexual partners, as I believe there is a lot of room for interpretation in the original book as well as in Great Comet. I do not support or condone real world incest and to be honest, this is literally the only relationship that I will ever consider writing as incestuous. 

I will write for almost any ship with any of my characters, but I do look for chemistry. Please do not try to force any ship onto me. 

[dcarhcarts]

ROLEPLAY HISTORY

The rules are simple! Post ten characters you’d like to roleplay as, have role-played as and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can and tag the same amount of people). Aside from that, please repost instead of reblogging!

CURRENTLY PLAYING:

Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova ( Broadway’s Anastasia )

Athos (BBC’s the Musketeers) - might be dropped soon?

Anatole Kuragin ( War & Peace / Great Comet ) 

Colonel (Theophilus but shhh tell no one) Fitzwilliam  

Dmitry Sudayev ( Broadway’s Anastasia ) 

Elizabeth Bennet ( Pride & Prejudice ) 

Eliza Schuyler ( Hamilton ) 

Helene Kuragina ( War & Peace / Great Comet ) 

Howl Pendragon ( Howl’s Moving Castle )

Jane Bennet ( Pride & Prejudice )

Lettie Hatter ( Howl’s Moving Castle )

Martha Hatter ( Howl’s Moving Castle )

Meg Giry ( Phantom of the Opera ) 

Natalie Goodman ( Next to Normal )

Natasha Rostova ( War & Peace / Great Comet )

Nick Carraway ( The Great Gatsby ) 

Pierre Bezukhov ( War & Peace / Great Comet )

Porpentina Goldstein ( Fantastic Beasts )

Sonya Rostova ( War & Peace / Great Comet ) 

Susan Pevensie ( Narnia )

Zoe Murphy ( Dear Evan Hansen ) 

WANT TO PLAY:

I want to play s o many characters but I have like....20+ muses. These aren’t happening unless I put them on a separate super low activity blog or something.

Karen Page - Daredevil / The Punisher. I don’t know if I”ll ever actually play her but she’s??? My favorite. I love her. I watch the shows f o r her honestly. She’s also like....exactly up my alley as a muse. Just someone I would have a great time playing, but also am terrified of screwing up, because i love her so much lmao.

Catherine Linton (i.e. Catherine Jr.) - Wuthering Heights. Very very On Brand for me. Also a particularly waspish female character, which is less on brand for me, but seems like a good challenge?

JOI - Bladerunner 2049. Sci-fi is probably not very on brand for m e but Joi just seems like a very flexible character to play. I like

Leonard H. McCoy - Star Trek (Specifically AOS). I’m nostalgic but I don’t think I’d actually pick him up. I used to write a ton of Star Trek Fanfic and I miss my Good Angry Doc

Thomas Schofield - Sorcery and Cecelia. He’s a little shit, the Marquis of Schofield, and from such an obscure book I may as well be playing an OC in the end probably, but he was considered for my Original Roster. Anyway, he’s a Regency Marquis who is also a magician, except he’s a dumb and his magical focus item accidentally ended up being a chocolate pot which is....so easy to break. Anyway, he’s rather clever, has got a bit of a pompous peacock thing going on, and is quite a bit less of an asshole than he’d like you to believe. 

Ok this isn’t specific but I’m.....like a book and a half through ASOIAF and not making a ton of progress bc I....have no time lmao but I’m getting the Terrifying Feeling that by the time I’m done I’m going to have another muse??? Stay tuned??? 

A bunch of Muses from the dramas I’m watching, but that blog is already in progress and I’m going to go ahead and call it SUPER LOW ACTIVITY since the fandoms are also pretty dead

HAVE PLAYED:

I.........really am not proud of any of these oops.

Enjolras (Les Mis the Musical) in like....I want to say 2015??? I deleted this because I was a full-cringe fanon portrayal. Just. I’m so sorry Victor Hugo. 

Enola Holmes (Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes / but also everyone who played w/ me was in BBC Sherlock so uhhh BBC Sherlock??) in......2017? I wanna say??? This blog you can still find, though I don’t really recommend you try. It wasn’t......great oof. I mean, I really liked the book series as a kid though? Just like.....it was great representation for a lil girl. Enola was constantly outsmarting Sherlock using Victorian Lady knowledge and I just. Loved it. She’s so clever. 

James Moriarty (BBC Sherlock), also in 2017. Not much to say about this one except to say I wasn’t active but people followed like crAZY when i w a s being active on Enola and nobody cared? and I was like “Well I ain’t having this bullcrap” so I just.............stopped dealing with it. Cause I was salty and anxious. Sorry not sorry lmao. 

Bway Group RP - Philip Carlyle, Sue Snell. I actually still love both of these muses but they just didn’t make my initial edit cut when I transitioned to this blog.

WILL/WOULD PLAY AGAIN:

Some of these I’d revisit for real; some I just wish I could.

Philip Carlyle - ok so I’m actually also super attached to Sue, but I also haven’t Stephen Kinged enough to feel comfortable playing her. Philip though - he was g r e a t fun. I think I really had the sweet spot between being a flirty jerkface and a genuinely not horrible guy that I can’t satisfy with muses like Anatole? 

Karen Page - Will I ever make it through the punisher??? that remains to be seen oops. 

I miiiiight pick up Catherine/Dolly. If I do, I’d have to pick 1 out of 2 and not do the other one for sure.

That ASOIAF muse is probs gonna come, idk tho

tagged: five million years ago by the long suffering @gcneralvaganov , who not only has to wait years for replies but evidently also for tagging games (sorry ily boo)

tagging: this is a long boi so don’t feel like you g o t t a do it but @personnages @nikolacvnas @moretreasurewithin @skylarkmuses @liabilitty

[thediaryofatheatrekid]

The Movie in My Mind: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

I’ve talked about a Great Comet movie before and have done a dream cast, but I wanted to go more in depth and give it another shot. As I’ve said before in another post I can fully get behind Baz Luhrmann directing this musical. I think he is the only person that would be able to bring this crazy musical to life on the big screen and have it translate well. If they had Luhrmann and the design team behind Moulin Rouge! (The movie not the awful stage adaption) work on this movie, it would be stunning! The marketing alone would be beautiful. Imagine something similar to the Into the Woods movie where they had the character portraits featuring quotes from said character, but instead, they use the lines from a prologue. You are walking along the street in NYC you just stopped at your favorite restaurant before you catch the evening performance of a show. As you walk down the street you see it. (This gets a bit vulgar, I apologize, but I’m creating a picture based off this one) A giant poster plastered onto the side of a building that says “Hélène” at the top in big, bold French Script. Below is Rihanna leaning against the wall of an old warehouse starring seductively, but directly into the camera with her mouth slightly ajar. She is in a gorgeous costume that shows every single one of her curves (and several of her tattoos) with just the right amount of cleavage that leaves you mesmerized, but doesn’t show everything. She is wearing sexy, black, lace gloves that go up to her elbows and has a rather tacky, but still gorgeous headpiece in her hair and she has diamond earrings, rings of different gemstones and around her neck several strands of pearls of different sizes, shapes, and colors. At Rihanna’s feet in a slightly smaller font than before it reads “is a slut.” (Okay that one might cause controversy, because of the word “slut”, but you get the idea)

Emily Bautista as Natasha Rostova

Now, I may be a bit biased about this, because of my knowing her, but I really think Emily Bautista would make a wonderful Natasha. Her lighter tone would bring an added layer of ingénuety to the role.

Honorable Mentions- Ali Ewoldt, Amara Okereke

Hugh Jackman as Pierre Bezukhov

Hugh Jackman may not be my favorite person in the world, but I think he’d make a great Pierre and he is a huge box office draw. 

Honorable Mentions- Brian d’Arcy James, Mandy Patinkin

Melissa Benoist as Sonya Rostova

Melissa is just an adorable human being and has a gorgeous voice. She recently made her Broadway debut as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and received wonderful reviews, but she is best known for her starring roles on Glee and as the titular role on Supergirl. Benoist has a great voice and her acting is just top notch.

Honorable Mention- Zendaya

Christine Baranski as Marya Dmitriyevna

If Christine applied the same demanding and sassy voice she used in Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? (Rent it from your local library or message me for a link to watch it online) she’d be an absolutely thrilling Marya D. She also has previous movie musical experience with Into the Woods and both Mamma Mia films.

Honorable Mentions- Meryl Streep, Patti LuPone, Sara Ramirez, Taraji P. Henson

Brendon Urie as Anatole Kuragin

I originally had Grant Gustin as Anatole and then I had this aha moment and realized “Wait... Why the f*ck did I not think of Brendon first?” Brendon is best known as the lead singer of Panic at the Disco! and made his Broadway debut last year in Kinky Boots starring in the role of Charlie Price. He has a massive fan base which would be a great box office draw. In addition not only is he easy on the eyes he has vocal chords of steel and I’ve heard he is a phenomenal actor.

Honorable Mentions- Eddie Redmayne, Grant Gustin, Kyle Dean Massey

Rihanna as Hélène Bezukhova

We all know that if this ever gets made into a movie the role of Hélène will be cast with a pop star. Frankly, who better than Rihanna? Rihanna has a very sexy voice which would be perfect for Hélène. Her lower tone would make her all the sexier. With Rihanna as Hélène, they can release “Charming” as a single, and h*ll, even make a few dance remix to hype up the movie.

Honorable Mentions- Lady Gaga, Naya Rivera, Vanessa Hudgens

Corbin Bleu as Fedya Dolokhov

I don’t really have any explanation as to why I cast Corbin, but when I was casting this my second thought (After Rihanna being Hélène) was Corbin for Dolokhov.

Honorable Mention- Michael C. Hall

Zac Efron as Andrey Bolkonsky

I think you just need one more big-time celeb for this role and Zac being the hunk that he is would bring in many different people and is another good box-office draw. Also he is just so pretty to look at.

Tim Curry as Old Prince Bolkonsky

Tim Curry would make a fantastic Old Prince Bolkonsky!!!! He may be in a wheelchair, but I think that’s why he’d be even greater.

Ali Ewoldt as Mary Bolkonskaya

You need someone with a classical voice and that’s that. Ali has a gorgeous voice and if she isn’t going to be Natasha she needs to be Mary.

James Corden as Balaga

I’m not a James Corden fan, but I think he’d make a good Balaga. Plus he with his late-night show would mean lots of free publicity. That’s pretty much all I have to say.

[shimyereh]

I keep thinking about how Tolstoy’s characters use language in War and Peace, ESPECIALLY all the code-switching between Russian and French. (This is one of the big reasons I decided I have to try to read the book in the original. As much as I lovelovelove Dunnigan’s translation and think it reads gorgeously, she translates a lot of the French within the dialogue and hides some of the code-switching. So now I’m reading the original and the Dunnigan translation in parallel.)

Here are some interesting language things I’ve noticed so far:

1. Some high society characters seem to speak way more French than Russian: Ippolit Kuragin, Julie Karagina, Lise Bolkonskaya. Ippolit’s first appearance involves him telling a story in terrible Russian (I.i.4). I haven’t seen Tolstoy explicitly comment on Lise’s Russian yet, but it’s been mentioned several times already that she usually speaks French.

2. In contrast, Marya Dmitriyevna always speaks Russian (I.i.15). And that makes sense, given her blunt manner and disregard for social niceties. The first time she appeared in the story, I immediately decided that I like her. She does her own thing, doesn’t care about fitting in with society, and society has come to both respect and fear her. It’s interesting that they call her le terrible dragon, instead of the equivalent in Russian.

3. I’ve seen two instances so far where Andrei pointedly shifts into Russian to show his disdain for frivolous people: with Ippolit (I.i.5), and Zherkov (I.ii.3). He seems comfortable with both languages, and often pretty aware of how he switches between them. But Tolstoy describes him unconsciously shifting completely into French when talking military strategy with his father (I.i.23) – I’m guessing this means he’s read more books on the subject in French.

4. Shinshin, Countess Rostova’s eccentric bachelor cousin, is another character who seems very aware of his own code-switching. He’s only made one appearance so far (the Rostovs’ party, I.i.15-16), but he has the most fascinating speech patterns of ANYBODY – shifting freely between Russian folk expressions and very flowery French, often with a wink at his listeners. He’s being clever and entertaining and he knows it. I think he’s basically doing a sort of aristocratic 19th-century Russian equivalent of what TV Tropes calls “Sophisticated As Hell”.

5. The Kuragins apparently speak some English! I’m curious about how/where they would have learned it, and just how much they know. Early chapters show Anatol translating for an Englishman (I.i.6), and Ippolit randomly exclaiming “Capital!” at Anna Pavlovna’s soirée (I.i.4).

6. I was surprised to discover that Pierre and Andrei address each other with different levels of formality. Pierre addresses Andrei as вы (formal “you”), and Andrei addresses Pierre as ты (informal “you”). This is one of those things that just plain don’t translate into modern English. I guess it makes sense: Andrei’s older and a somewhat higher social class. But I was still surprised, and this makes me view their friendship a little differently.

7. And then I just love the way Tolstoy periodically comments on how his characters say things. Like: Anna Mikhailovna stressing the first syllable in her son’s name (“BO-ris”) to show affection, or the way the German officer at the Rostovs’ party speaks without palatalization (I had to read his dialogue out loud! not sure I’d ever heard German-accented Russian before), or the way m-lle Bourienne leans on a trilled “r” as if enjoying the sound of her own voice, and of course Denisov’s habit of never pronouncing an “r”.

[laguerreetlapaix]

Things in The Great Comet Cast Recordings That Make Me Squeal

-RAHZ DVA TRI (in Moscow) (I fucking love josh groban)

-Denée’s ‘Maaarya’ is so lovely sounding

-Brittain’s squeak!!

-When Natasha and Sonya say each other’s names joking around

-The very end of Private and Intimate Life of the House, Gelsey sounds so sad and beautiful

-‘You and I, You and II, You and IIIIIII!’

-Anatole’s entrance in The Opera

-‘Ce sont les jolies femmes’ THIS PART IS SO FUNNY TO ME

-‘Drink, drink, gonna drink tonight’

-‘RAHZ DVA TRI. DRINK WITH ME MY LOVE’ have you EVER been More Hyped

-‘Here’s to the health of married women, and their lovers!’ Nick Choksi can choksi me

-‘All of my life I spent searching the words-‘ this section gets me

-‘But then why am I screaming?’ This section hurts me

-The way Amber says ‘country’ on the original cast recording fucks me up

-Also the HYPE of Charming, that ‘Oh, oh, how she blushes!’ Dave put it best

-The way Denée says ‘eccossaise’

-THE WHOLE ENSEMBLE SINGING THE CHORUS IN LETTERS

-Brittain’s ‘But you haven’t refused him, or have you?’

-‘I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, YOU’RE MY ENEMY FOREVER!’

-‘Andrey’s wiiife’

-‘That piece of music right before ‘oh ma chère’ in Preparations

-‘Who’s that slowpoke, we abuse with wild and tipsy shooouuts’

-PIERRE’S PART IN THE ABDUCTION O SHIT

-Pretty much all of In My House, but especially the end !

-‘ANATOLE KURAGIN!!’

-‘FOR PETERSBUUUURG!’ (Who does lucas steele think he is?)

-Denée’s ‘Pytor Kirilovich’ has me in tears

-‘The greatest sense of pity, tenderness and love, overflowed Pierre’s heart’

-‘If I were not myself, but the brightest, handsomest, best man on earth. And if I were free— I would get down on my knees this minute, and ask you for your hand and for your love’ WHY AM I CRYING IN THE CLUB

-And literally everything that follows that, but especially ‘Oh, oh Pierre’ and ‘Restraining tears of tenderness’ ‘Outside, my great broad chest, breathing deep the air, with joy’

-The ensemble in The Great Comet of 1812 sound ethereal, I love it so much

-The last verse of the song fills me with so much hope and it’s beautiful. Side note, I cried when I read these lines in war and peace

Please add more!

[film--fatale]

I Would Not Ditch My Fiancé For This Anatole Kuragin, And Other Reasons Why Every Adaptation Of War And Peace is Kinda Bad (Told Across Four Volumes And An Entirely Pointless Epilogue, So At Least Something Here is Accurate to The Book) (volume 4)

Being well aware of the various faults of these adaptations, and being something of a writer myself, if I were given the opportunity to adapt the book, what would I do? Well for starters, I would probably pick some way that allows for this story's grand scope to be dramatically narrowed down. I’m not sure if it’s genuinely possible to adapt War and Peace in its entirety without it dragging a lot, partly because I am of the belief that a fair amount of this book just is kinda boring, but also I think there’s large swathes of this book that just can’t translate to film all that well (ie. all of Tolstoy’s philosophical bullshit).  In order to combat this I think it makes sense to instead either focus on a particular storyline/section of the book or the story of a particularly interesting character. Would I watch a film exclusively about the battle of Borodino? Well, no, I find war to be the most dreadfully boring subject matter, but a good film could be made about that nethertheless. Moreover, if I were adapting War and Peace, I would probably change a lot from the original source material. War and Peace is a good book in places, but it absolutely could be made better, or at the very least less sexist. If HBO or some other cool place were to give me all the money in the world and tell me to go ham making my dream War and Peace adaptation I’d probably centre it around my favourite female villain who has never once been even remotely well written, Hélène Kuragina. If handled properly she could be such a compelling and tragic figure, instead of just a vaguely evil sex object as she is most often potratyed, but most importantly an adaptation centred around her could be fun; she’s such a clever and conivinving character, from such an insane family dealing with the absurdity of being an aristocratic woman in the early 1800’s.

[rosiep66]

"WAR AND PEACE" (2016) Review

"WAR AND PEACE" (2016) Review I have a confession to make. I have never seen a movie or television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel, "War and Peace". Never. Well . . . I once made an attempt to watch the 1956 movie adaptation directed by King Vidor. Unfortunately, I could never go the distance. In fact, I have never read the novel. However, many years passed. When I heard about the BBC's latest adaptation of Tolstoy's novel, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give "WAR AND PEACE" a chance. The six-part miniseries is simply about the experiences of five Russian families during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. Those families include the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs, the Kuragins, and theDrubetskoys. The miniseries seemed to be divided into three segments during a period between 1805 and 1812-13. The first segment featured the introduction of the main characters and Russia's preparation of a war against Napoleon's France. This culminates into the Battle of Austerlitz in which two major characters - Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky and Count Nikolai Ilyich Rostov - participate. The second segment featured the characters' personal experiences at home. During this period, the miniseries explored Count Pyotr "Pierre" Kirillovich Bezukhov's failed marriage with the beautiful, but vapid and unfaithful Princess Yelena "Hélène" Vasilyevna Kuragina; the Rostov family's financial woes and how it affected Nikolai Rostov; the emotional strains within the Bolkonsky family; Prince Boris Drubetskoy's efforts to advance his military career; and especially Countess Natalya "Natasha" Ilyinichna Rostova's love life, which included both Andrei Bolkonsky and Prince Anatole Vasilyevich Kuragin. This segment also included news of Treaties of Tilsit of 1807, which ended hostilities between Imperial France and Imperial Russia and Prussia. The miniseries' final segment focused on France's invasion of Russia in 1812 and the characters' efforts to survive it. I could compare director Tom Harper and screenwriter Andrew Davies' adaptation with Tolstoy's novel, but it would be a useless effort. As I had earlier pointed out, I have never read the novel. But I do have at least two complaints about the productions. One of them revolved around the relationship between Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky. I realize that the publicity machine on both sides of the Atlantic had undergone a great effort to build up the relationship between the pair. Frankly, I found the publicity campaign rather wasted. The Natasha/Andrei romance struck me as a disappointing and wasted effort. The majority of their story arc - which began with their meeting at a ball near the end of Episode Three, continued with Natasha's brief romance with the slimy Anatole Kuragin, and ended with Natasha's romances with both men crashing around her by the end of Episode Four; had moved . . . so damn fast that it left my head spinning. I cannot help but wonder if the entire arc could have been portrayed with more detail if the series had stretched a bit longer. I also had a problem with Edward K. Gibbon's costume designs. I found most of them very colorful, especially for the aristocratic characters. But I also found most of them rather troublesome. Well . . . to be honest, I found them either mediocre or historically questionable. One of them left me gritting my teeth:

But my jaw had literally dropped at the sight of a few costumes worn by actresses Tuppence Middleton and Gillian Anderson - including those shown in the images below:

WHAT IN THE HELL??? Their costumes looked more appropriate for present-day evening wear than the early 19th century. What was Mr. Gibbons thinking? Despite the rushed Natasha Rostova/Andrei Bolkonsky romance and despite the rather questionable costumes, I managed to enjoy "WAR AND PEACE" very much. I am a sucker for family sagas, especially when they are seeped in a historical background. And "WAR AND PEACE" nearly pushed every one of my buttons when it comes to a well made saga. It had everything - romance, family struggles, historical events and personages. When I realized that Tolstoy had originally focused his tale on five families, I did not think Andrew Davies would be able to translate the author's novel in a tight story without losing its epic quality. There were certain sequences that really blew my mind, thanks to Davies' writing and especially, Tom Harper's direction. I thought Harper did an outstanding job of re-creating battles like Austerlitz and Borodino, along with the French Army's retreat from Moscow. Harper also did a great job in directing large parties and ball scenes. My two favorites are the party held at St. Petersburg socialite Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon in Episode 1 and the ball where Natasha and Andrei met in Episode 3. But it was not just the battle and crowd scenes that impressed me. "WAR AND PEACE" is - after all - a melodrama, even if many literary critics are inclined not to admit it. I never thought I would find myself getting caught up in the lives of the saga's main characters. But I did. I must admit that I admire how Tolstoy . . . and Davies managed to allow the three main characters - Pierre, Natasha and Andrei - to interact with the five families, regardless of blood connection or marriage. I especially enjoyed the explorations into the lives of Pierre, the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. At first glance, some might regard the miniseries' ending that featured a picnic with the families of the three leads as a bit on the saccharine. It did have a "happily ever after" tinge about it. But I read in a newspaper article that complained about Tolstoy's "realistic" ending - one that featured a less-than-happy view of the protagonists' lives and a critique from Tolstoy on all forms of mainstream history. Thanks to Davies' screenplay, audiences were spared of this. "WAR AND PEACE" featured a good number of first-rate performances from a supporting cast that included Stephen Rea, Gillian Anderson, Tuppence Middleton, Callum Turner, Mathieu Kassovitz, Jessie Buckley, Adrian Edmondson, Aisling Loftus, Rebecca Front and Aneurin Barnard. However, I was especially impressed by certain supporting performances. One came from Greta Scacchi, who portrayed the Rostov family's practical and sometimes ruthless matriarch Countess Natalya Rostova. I also enjoyed Brian Cox's portrayal of the world weary General Mikhail Kutuzov, who has to contend with not only Napolean's army, but also the amateurish interference of the Czar. Tom Burke did a great job in portraying the wolfish and ambitious army officer, Fedor Dolokhov, who eventually becomes a better man following Napoleon's invasion. Jack Lowden's portrayal of the young Count Nikolai Rostov really impressed me, especially when his character found himself torn between following his heart and marrying a wealthy woman to restore his family's fortunes. And Jim Broadbent gave a very colorful performance as Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, the mercurial and controlling patriarch of the Bolkonsky family. And what about the production's three leads? Lily James gave a very charming performance as Countess Natasha Rostova. Well . . . I take that back. Describing James' performance as simply "charming" seemed to hint that I found it rather shallow. Yes, James handled Natasha's "light" moments with her usual competence. More importantly, she did an excellent job in conveying Natasha's personal struggles - especially during the series' second half. There were times when I did not know what to make of the Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. He struck me as a very unusual protagonist. Although I found him rather honorable and filled with valor, Andrei did not always struck me as likable - especially in his relationship with adoring, yet ignored wife Lise. And Norton superbly captured the many nuances of Andrei's character. If Andrei Bolkonsky struck me as an unusual protagonist, Count Pierre Bezukhov struck me as one of a kind. Well . . . one of a kind for a literary piece written in the 19th century. Sometimes, I get the feeling that someone like Pierre could easily translate into a late 20th century or early 21st century geek. Or perhaps not. I think Pierre is too kind and open-minded to be considered a geek. But he is very unusual for a leading man. And thanks to Paul Dano's superb portrayal, Pierre has become one of my favorite fictional characters. He did a stupendous job in conveying Pierre's character from this insecure and rather naive man to a man who learned to find wisdom and inner peace through his struggles. Dano was so good that I had assumed that his performance would garner him a major acting nomination. It did not and I am still flabbergasted by this travesty. My taste in period dramas usually focused on stories set in the United States or Great Britain . . . with the occasional foray into France. I was very reluctant to tackle this latest adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's most famous novel. But I was in the mood for something new and decided to watch the six-part miniseries. I am happy to say that despite some flaws, I ended up enjoying "WAR AND PEACE" very much, thanks to Andrew Davies' screenplay, Tom Harper's direction and an excellent cast led by Paul Dano, James Norton and Lily James.

[helenekuraginaarc]

the great comet hélène  vs.  war and peace hélène

@carnovalesque said:  i would kill for a post where u talk about differences btw tgc helene and w&p helene

here it is! i’ve talked in passing many, many times about my displeasure with great comet’s interpretation of hélène, but i’ve only mentioned in passing my problems with it. it’s about time i actually laid out my critique and sorted out the differences! because, really, it’s not that i don’t like great comet’s hélène, it’s that it’s just... not hélène kuragina. i think dave malloy took a lot of liberties with the characterization in great comet and it often makes me wonder why he didn’t just write something completely new, like ghost quartet, instead of adapting war and peace, since it’s really so far from the original work. great comet is an incredible work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s really ingenuous to the novel and it makes it hard for me to enjoy.

now to the actual analysis. in the blockquotes i’ll summarize/quote great comet, and beneath that, without blockquotes, i’ll counteract that with the novel. here we go. under the cut because this got long as hell. i have a lot of say about my girl, alright?

“hélène is a slut. anatole’s sister, married to pierre.” — prologue.  the audience is immediately informed of this “trait” of hers and essentially is made to view her in that light for the rest of the musical. dave malloy did try to defend it by saying she’s reclaiming the term, but it is not clear enough in the slightest. additionally, she isn’t the only one to say it, the entire cast does. that one gendered slur is meant to be her defining trait, said like a fact as simple as anatole being her brother or pierre being her husband.

while it is true that hélène does have a few affairs in the novel, most notably with dolokhov and boris drubetskoy, this contrasts with the book interpretation in a couple of ways. first of all, using this as an introduction to hélène’s character goes completely against what tolstoy did. the first descriptions of hélène talk about her calmness, her embarrassment at her effect on men, even her insecurity and vulnerability. she isn’t brazen or outwardly cruel, she’s human, soft, shy. it’s only later that her flaws are revealed. “but, charlie, that’s because great comet takes place in the middle of the book, she already grew out of that!” okay, but? her reputation was still fairly unscathed. in fact, at this point, her reputation was on the uptick. relative to war and peace, great comet begins right after pierre and hélène reunite after the period of time they spent apart after the duel. she’d come out of just fine, passing any blame from the conflict with dolokhov onto pierre and painting him as a jealous, angry husband and herself as innocent in every way. and in some ways, she’s right — her affair with dolokhov is never even canonically confirmed. but more on that later. the point is, she’s still seen as kind and innocent in society, just with the added on qualities of also being charming and confident. virtually no one knows of her promiscuity.

moving right along into the second point, how can she reclaim something that hasn’t been used against her? no one is calling her a sl*t in society. she isn’t known that way at all. additionally, it is not something she would want to reclaim. if you don’t believe me, look to the end of her life. when she becomes pregnant from a man other than pierre and her affairs begin to be impossible to hide, she panics. this eventually leads to her overdosing and killing herself. i really don’t think she wants to be known like that. 

disclaimer: i’ve received a lot of flack of this in the past, so let me be clear. i have no problem with reclaiming the term! at all! women owning their sexuality is fantastic! it’s just not hélène. 

“hélène and dolokhov, arm in arm. pierre, the cuckold sits at home!” — the opera,  along with hélène and dolokhov’s flirting/obviousness in the duel. it makes it clear that hélène does not care for pierre’s opinion of her, nor that he knows she is being unfaithful. in fact, she rubs it in his face. she is completely smug about it and without shame.

now, in the novel, the duel and dolokhov and hélène’s supposed affair is closer to the beginning of their marriage, perhaps a year or two after if i remember correctly? meaning, it is the first hint at hélène’s unfaithfulness to pierre. it’s not a pattern. it’s never happened before. as previously mentioned, hélène’s reputation is still unscathed, she remains a soft-spoken and innocent girl, albeit with a newfound confidence from her marriage and rise in status. still, she very much values her marriage and bezukhov’s name and her relationship with him—not in a romantic sense, of course, but in a respectful and appreciative sense. she knows she would not be where she is without him. she knows she owes him for raising her status. she really doesn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with him, meaning if she were having an affair with dolokhov (which, again, it is never entirely confirmed, only assumed, and the reader is told of it through rumors spread at the rostov’s house) it’s highly unlikely she would be rubbing it into pierre’s face.

hélène would not be seen with dolokhov in public without pierre by her side, fearing for her reputation and the opinions/assumptions of others, however right they are. in canon, she goes as far as to express her displeasure at dolokhov staying with them and makes it seem to pierre as if she despises dolokhov. it is dolokhov’s actions entirely, alluding to himself being hélène’s lover, that sets pierre off. hélène does everything to hide it. it is important to note that the attention and admiration from society is hélène’s only source of validation, not being shown love from her family or pierre and only being wanted by lovers for sex and status. she does whatever possible to keep the false sense of love she receives from society. she tries this with pierre at first, but it becomes impossible for her to keep up, as the image of herself she displays in public is so different from the deeply troubling and angry truth of her mindset.

“keep drinking, old man [...] god, to think i married a man like you!” — the duel,  showing hélène’s contempt for pierre and making it clear that she doesn’t care about hiding how she feels about him. she feels ashamed to be married to him and tells him directly.  “he will kill you, stupid husband!” — also from the duel, showing that she exhibits the tiniest bit of worry for pierre, but mainly showing that she thinks he’s a fool for engaging in the duel at all.

as i previously mentioned, hélène doesn’t show her dislike of pierre outwardly at any time in the novel. throughout their marriage, while it’s clear she showed hostility towards him and commented on his way of life and certain things he did, she never makes it seem as if she does not appreciate him or what he’s done for her. she knows he’s a good husband to her, even that he’s a good man. it isn’t really him that causes her dislike of him, it’s the fact that she’s married to a man she never wanted to be married to. both pierre and hélène were completely shoved into the marriage by hélène’s father, prince vassily. neither wanted this, but they make their peace with it, even if it leads to a cycle of anger and depression and avoidance. but, all in all, the two do not fight. when things go wrong, they separate and don’t see each other, which is... rather mature for how dramatic they both can be. give them some credit, dave!

now, on the latter quote, hélène doesn’t even find out about the duel until after it takes place. it is only then that she approaches him and tells him he’s foolish. again, she tells him how he only merely assumed that she was having an affair. it’s then that he suggests that they part and hélène merely states in her own cruel, teasing way that she wouldn’t mind in the slightest. that is the point where he threatens her life, throwing a marble slab at her and literally shouting “i’ll kill you!” at her. but, in great comet, we are never shown his violence towards her, only her offhand cruelty to him. hmmm, interesting. i’m not excusing her actions in the slightest, but it seems like a bit of a double standard, given that they rarely fought and, when they did, the majority of the anger came from him. just my onion.......

“she’s first-rate, my dear, but she’s not for you. you’d better wait ‘til she’s married.” — the duel. in this part, hélène actually shows some insight into the affair and warns her brother of the consequences. the quip about waiting until she’s married is supposedly meant to allude to her own affair taking place during her marriage.

this actually gives hélène credit where it ....... is not due. this line is originally from dolokhov in the novel. the kuragin siblings share the same amount of intelligence—which is, not much. hélène seems to understand the way things go a little more than anatole, simply because, as a woman, things have been harder for her, but in reality she wouldn’t have this kind of insight. she rushes into things as quality as anatole does, only having brief thoughts of their outcomes, often thinking in bias of her desired result. the line makes much more sense coming from dolokhov, who says in the novel that girls like natasha aren’t for them, not just for anatole. the quip about affairs during marriage even makes more sense, given his experience with hélène. with married women, there is no chance of anything coming of it more than they want to, if you catch my drift.

i’ve seen someone say that they could have given this line to hélène to add in that she doesn’t want anatole to go after natasha because she wants him to remain loyal to her, which is? frankly disgusting. don’t ship incest, kids. not to mention, the incestuous relationship between them assumed in many adaptions is? not canon at all? again, there’s mentioned rumors, but that’s just nineteenth century for you. with the siblings’ reliance on each other and their flirtatious nature with others, people will come to their own, in this instance incorrect, assumptions. not to mention, these rumors are taken from pierre’s perspective as he attempts to convince himself not to marry hélène, so, uh? it’s biased. hélène and anatole were not in love. they loved each other as siblings do. as family does. that is it. in fact, their closeness at all was likely a result of their parents harsh/abusive nature, so... don’t. thanks. they’re just siblings

hélène’s pronunciation of “charmante” in charming is purposefully incorrect. from dave’s genius annotations, it states that it was originally just his mistake, but turned into being kept because, in his words: “hélène is bit of a dilettante, and it’s actually kind of hilarious to me that she is so confidently butchering the french in the chorus of her big song, so… in the end this works for me!“

it’s true, hélène is really unintelligent, but! she’s honestly not bad at french. there’s only a handful of skills she’s listed at having in the novel, two of the most notable being her french and her ability to dance. her only fault in french is that she speaks with a “coarse precision of speech,” having basically no correct intonation. she speaks the words correctly and can speak fairly fluently, but just speaks incredibly monotonously. this one isn’t really a big deal, i just think it would’ve been interesting for dave malloy to show her unintelligence in another way, rather than something she’s canonically alright at! though, i guess, a charming where she speaks the french monotonously might not have the same comedic effect as pronouncing it entirely incorrectly. it’s whatever. just a difference to note. there were still probably better and funnier ways to show her ignorance/unintelligence.

the rest of charming is pretty much directly from the text level accurate. it could be gayer, as it seems to take a “oh she’s only manipulating natasha” angle, when tolstoy does make a point in the novel to point out hélène’s genuine adoration for natasha. while i do think a part of it was only to help her brother, the book makes it seem as if there’s a very real possibility that part of hélène’s motivation was selfish and in order to be around natasha herself. essentially, the book makes it way gayer

the hélène/marya dmitrievna kiss, taking place in balaga, as part of the wild and dissociative imagery of the scene, probably for some wlw fan service and ??? other reasons i honestly have no idea what they were trying to do by putting this in

as shown by a line that even makes an appearance in the musical, marya dmitrievna does not like hélène in the slightest. she scolds natasha for being around her and advises heavily against it. being, well, the iconic marya dmitrievna, she sees right through hélène’s act—or, more accurate, she sees what pierre sees her for. she knows she is dishonest and fakes her personality and that’s enough for marya to dislike her and not trust her nor her intentions. not to mention, while they’re played by actresses around the same age in the musical, in canon hélène is around 26-27 at this point, while marya dmitrievna is in her 50′s to 60′s. that’s like. a twenty to thirty year age difference. it makes me highly uncomfortable and also makes no sense. i get it’s all about the wildness™ of the scene itself, but it would’ve made much more sense to have hélène and natasha kiss at this point, imo, having her “stand in” for anatole while he kisses dolokhov. that woulda been ideal and still get the same results that i think dave was goin for?

“ah, pierre, sweet husband, you don’t know what a plight our anatole has had!” — find anatole. this is a dramatic shift from earlier, during the duel, when she called him “stupid husband” and was cruel to him. it’s, i guess, meant to symbolize how quickly she is willing to manipulate him when she wants something, like the safety of her brother.

i’ve already commented on hélène’s treatment of pierre, so i’ll just reiterate that the shift shouldn’t be so dramatic. in reality, she is usually like this, acting kind and gentle towards him and attempting to keep him happy with her. it’s very rare that she shows her frustration towards him, that’s too honest for her. she’s usually all manipulation and falseness which, y’know, isn’t good, but she doesn’t do so out of cruelty, only insecurity and paranoia. still, not good. 

other than that, which is really just a problem with the earlier lines in the duel rather than anything about this line, i really love this part. what makes it a difference is what malloy didn’t add in. in the annotations, he mentions almost adding a line about her retracting after his reaction, knowing not to anger him because she’d seen his anger firsthand and GOD do i wish he’d kept that in! in canon, she becomes very meek and quiet and does not go against him any further. this shows his effect on her and how scared she becomes of him. it balances the scale again and shows that the cruelty here is not one-sided. pierre has tried to hurt hélène before. she knows he is capable of hurting her and it scares her. it’s also a humanizing moment, taking her down from her ever-confident state. if pierre’s able to give that reaction just with an angry tone and a throwaway insult towards her? what does that say about him? about her?

well, that’s it! a tl;dr version would be — the great comet of hélène reduces her to a trope, in my opinion. she loses her complexity. in the novel she is soft, but angry. she seems confident, but she’s insecure. she hungers for love and seeks it in affairs, looking for any kind of validation or adoration she can get, but trying her best to keep her desperation a secret. just for her. great comet hélène feels boring in comparison. she’s the evil seductress alto we’ve seen a million times before. there’s none of the originality that tolstoy gave her. don’t get me wrong, i hate that son of a bitch tolstoy, but? he knew how to write complex women. he made hélène into a real, complex character and i love her too much to really accept what malloy wrote her into.

but anyways i also love amber gray and would die for her and would kill to see what she’d do with a novel accurate hélène. it’d make me die for sure i love her

[vasilyevna-a]

Davies’s decision to make the relationship between the Kuragin siblings incestuous upset some Tolstoy purists, who accused him of going too far.

But the writer, whose adaptations of Bleak House and Pride And Prejudice won acclaim, insisted Tolstoy had hinted at such a relationship in the original novel and he was only expanding on the original idea.

He said: ‘Helene and Anatole are just so cool about it. It’s just another thing to them. You think, “My God, these people are quite amoral, aren’t they?” Yes they are. But they see themselves as fine.’

I’M LITERALLY FUCKING DISGUSTED?    like fuckin ok great ok but a literal incestuous relationship, one that’s incredibly abusive and has an abusive backing, as well, would not and is not just ‘another thing’ to either of them and that’s exactly why such a thing should not be treated with such disturbing nonchalance.

i do not give a fuck about shock factor or the fact that davies wanted to make them appear even more amoral that they already were. this is disgusting. he treated an abusive, incestuous relationship as something completely normal between them. it’s awful and makes me sick to my stomach? the scenes he put in were not only entirely unnecessary, but were absolutely insulting and revolting.

i understand he’s not going to get every single thing right when adapting something but if he really wanted to stay true to the novel at all, he should have at least had the common sense to not disrespect the characters this way. especially when one of them has as serious and obvious hints towards mental illness as hélène does? not to mention the implications of neglect and the overall unhealthy dynamic of the kuragin family. also considering he put in a throwaway line implying that prince vassily was physically abusive, upping the amount of abusive in the kuragin household then there even was in canon? i’m disgusted by this.

there are a lot of things i appreciate abt the 2016 bbc series but i seriously cannot forgive something as insulting and disgusting as this, especially when it concerns a character so dear to my heart.