2. how did you get into this franchise/fandom?
funnily enough, considering how much i hate on it now, i actually got into the great comet musical first! i got into it around? 2014? around when it was still off-broadway in the meatpacking district. my interest in it was pretty casual until the bbc series came out in 2016 and after i watched that i got more interested in it and then finally read the book and the rest is history!
i'm sure a few people remember, as i've got a few long time friends in the rpc, but when i started writing hélène in 2016 she was actually great comet and bbc series based... which feels so fucking crazy considering i am infamously unabl to shut up these days about my problems with her portrayal in them both. i think in general war and peace acts more like a long, drawn out character study of its characters than anything with a plot and it's just very difficult to shove that into a concise story structure that would be needed for a musical or series. i still appreciate both the musical and the series for getting me into it, it's just truly not as interesting as tolstoy's ramblings, unfortunately.
21. which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?
i have a very, very long playlist where i store every song that reminds me of her, but i think the number one song is stupid girl by garbage. it's insane how hélène it is, like...
— pretend you're anything / just to be adored / and what you need / is what you get. you stupid girl / all you had, you wasted / you stupid girl / i can't believe you fake it.
hélène's entire persona relies on becoming what other people want her to be, she is so, so fixated on being adored by society. and it works! so! well! she is adored by society and it is specifically because she fits her behavior in society to be exactly what would bring that adoration. and in the end, it truly was for nothing, as the adoration of society was entirely built on shallow admiration and could never actually fulfill her <3 we like to have fun here on vasilievna dot tumblr dot com.
— dream girl evil by florence + the machine, specifically regarding her relationship with pierre: am i your dream girl? / you think of me in bed / but you could never hold me / you like me better in your head / make me evil / then i'm an angel instead / at least you'll sanctify me when i'm dead.
one of the most prevalent issues in her marriage with pierre is pierre's issues with his own shame surrounding sexual desire — he wants hélène, but that fact disgusts him and he considers it a moral failing and projects that back onto her. she definitely has her own faults in their marriage, of course, and did not marry him for anything other than his money, but he, for his part, only married her out of a desire that he then blames entirely on her. then, when she dies, he pities her.
— miss world by hole: i am the girl you know / i lie and lie and lie / i'm miss world / somebody kill me / kill me, pills / no one cares, my friends. i've made my bed / i'll lie in it / i've made my bed / i'll die in it.
self explanatory. lies about herself her whole life, is adored by society, has no real friends, kills herself via overdose. this song was literally written about her i think.
— runs in the family by amanda palmer: all day i've been wondering what is inside of me / who can i blame for it? / i say it runs in the family / this family who carries me to such great lengths / to open my legs up to anyone who'll have me / it runs in the family, i come by it honestly / do what you want 'cause, who knows, it might / fill me up.
she is so, SO suffering from the worst family evil in the entire world. absolutely everything wrong with her is derived from being a kuragin. her father trained her her entire life to value only society success by any means. and, of course, there is the issue of the extensive sexual violence in her family. her mother is largely implied to be a victim of incestuous abuse from her uncle, count kirill bezukhov (who's son, pierre, hélène ends up being forced into marrying by her father...) and there's also the issue of hélène's relationship with her own brother, which in the drafts is positioned much more as anatole abusing her than anything with even the idea of consent.
hélène is used and disregarded emotionally by her family and this is exactly what leads her to seek the adoration in society as she does. she has been taught to value societal success, yes, but i think more than that she learns to try and fill the void where that familial love and validation would have gone with the admiration of society. she is constantly searching for something to make her feel something, feel loved, resulting in not only the way she changes herself for society, but also her impulsive sexuality, as well, which isn't uncommon for survivors of incest. she has no real experience with being loved and so she does everything in her power to try and feel something approximating it.
9. have you tweaked the character from canon? if so, what did you tweak?
