#stella havisham

[doppeldaanger]

Hes a newborn today

[stannyyytweakkk]

Dibujo algo viejo de Rebecca y Cristophe lolol

[psychostrawberry100]

Please get me out of high school now 😭😭

[ctheathy]

Communities

• = Platonic and/or Pet-like

• = Romantic

• = Suggestive

• = NSFW

Vocaloid [+AUs from any song. Example: The Court Jester!Fukase] :

Hatsune Miku ,, Kagamine Rin ,, Kagamine Len ,, Luka Megurine ,, Meiko ,, Kaito ,, Gumi ,, Fukase ,, Utatane Piko ,, Flower ,, Oliver

The Evillious Chronicles [Daughter/Servant of Evil] AU:

Riliane ‘Rin’ Lucifen d'Autriche ,, Alexiel Lucifen d'Autriche // Allen ‘Len’ Avadonia ,, Kyle ‘Kaito’ Marlon ,, Michaela ‘Miku’ ,, Germaine ‘Meiko’ Avadonia

Baldi's Basics :

Baldi ,, Arts and Crafters ,, Playtime • ,, 1st Prize ,, It's a Bully ,, Principal of the Thing ,, Gotta Sweep ,, Cloudy Copter ,, Beans ,, Chalkles ,, Dr. Reflex ,, Mrs. Pomp ,, The Test ,, Null // filename2 ,, 0th Prize ,, PlaceFace ,, Bladder ,, Johnny

The Powerpuff Girls :

Monster Hunter Stories :

Villains:

Mojo Jojo ,, Brick ,, Boomer ,, Butch ,, Princess Morbucks ,, Fuzzy Lumpkins ,, The Amoeba Boys ,, The Gangreen Gang ,, Sedusa (+Ima GoodLady) ,, Rainbow the Clown//Mr. Mime ,, Abracadaver ,, The Sandman ,, The Gnome ,, Dick Hardly ,, Knock-off Powerpuff Girls ,, Him (+MIH) ,, Owlie Boop ,, Allegro ,, Chelsea ,, Sapna Nehru ,, Packrat ,, The Powerpunk Girls [Berserk, Brat and Brute] ,, The Rowdyright Boys [Blake, Bash and Breaker] ,, The RowdyRouge Girls [Bellicose, Bedlam and Bruiser]

Lute ,, Cheval ,, Lilia ,, Mille ,, Hyoro ,, Genie ,, Itsy-Bits ,, Dr. Manelger • ,, Debli ,, Avinia // Ayuria ,, Gale ,, Kayna ,, Ena ,, Alwin ,, Zellard ,, Reverto ,, Kyle ,, Yoomlana

South Park + Hellpark :

Corpse Party :

Stan Marsh ,, Kyle Broflovski ,, Craig Tucker ,, Clyde Donovan ,, Tweek Tweak ,, Thomas ,, Jacob Hallery ,, Cosette ,, Philip “Pip” Pirrip/Pirrup ,, Damien Thorn ,, Estella Havisham

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun :

Satoshi Mochida ,, Yuka Mochida • ,, Seiko Shinohara ,, Naomi Nakashima ,, Ayumi Shinozaki ,, Yoshiki Kishinuma ,, Mayu Suzumoto ,, Sakutaro Morishige ,, Yuuya Kizami ,, Naho Saenoki ,, Sachiko Shinozaki •

Hanako // Amane Yugi ,, Yashiro Nene ,, Kou Minamoto ,, Teru Minamoto ,, Mitsuba Sousuke ,, Aoi Akane ,, Akane Aoi ,, Sakura Nanamine ,, Natsuhiko Hyuga ,, Tsukasa Yugi ,, Tsuchigomori Ryūjirou

The Koopalings + DiC cartoons :

Larry Koopa + Cheatsy Koopa

Morton Jr. Koopa + Big Mouth Koopa

Ludwig Von Koopa + Kooky Von Koopa

Wendy O Koopa + Kootie Pie Koopa

Lemmy Koopa + Hip Koopa •

Care Bears + Movies :

Iggy Koopa + Hop Koopa •

Roy Koopa + Bully Koopa

The Care Bears • ,, Care Bear Cousins • ,, Auntie Freeze • ,, Professor Coldheart • ,, Frostbite ,, No Heart ,, Beastly ,, Shriekeline “Shreeky” No Heart

The Care Bears: Adventure in Wonderland

Alice ,, White Rabbit ,, Caterpillar ,, Cheshire Cat ,, Mad Hatter ,, Stan the Jabberwocky ,, Princess of Wonderland ,, The Wizard of Wonderland ,, Dim & Dum

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

Dark Heart ,, Christy ,, Dawn ,, John

Happy Tree Friends :

Cuddles ,, Giggles ,, Toothy ,, Lumpy ,, Petunia ,, Handy ,, Nutty ,, Sniffles ,, Pop ,, Cub • ,, Flaky ,,The Mole ,, Disco Bear ,, Russell ,, Lifty & Shifty ,, Mime ,, Cro Marmot ,, Flippy + Fliqpy ,, Ka Boom ,, Splendid ,, Splendon’t ,, Lammy ,, Mr. Pickles,, Truffles ,, FatKat

Chikn Nuggit :

Chikn Nuggit [+ Demigod form] ,, Cheezborger ‘Chee’ ,, Iscream ,, Slushi ,, Fwench Fwy ,, Sody Pop • ,, Sassparilla ,, Cofi ,, Hawt Saus ,, Bezel ,, Milkshek ,, Old Pea ,, Katsup and Meowstard • ,, Beta!Fwench Fwy ,, Beta!Slushi ,, Beta!Hawt Saus

Angry Birds :

Red ,, Chuck ,, Bomb ,, Matilda ,, The Blues ,, Jake, Jay, Jim • ,, Bubbles ,, Hal ,, Silver ,, Ice Bird ,, Terence ,, Corporal Pig ,, Foreman Pig ,, Chef Pig ,, King Pig ,, Prince Porky ,, Stella ,, Poppy ,, Luca • ,, Willow ,, Dahlia ,, Gale ,, Handsome Pig ,, Artist Pig

Littlest Pet Shop :

Zoe Trent ,, Russell Ferguson [+Cyril McFlip] ,, Minka Mark ,, Penny Ling ,, Vinnie Terrio ,, Sunil Nevla ,, Pepper Clark ,, Buttercream Sundae ,, Sugar Sprinkles ,, Mitzi ,, Shahrukh ,, Madame Pom ,, Delilah Barnsley ,, Scout Kerry ,, Sweet Cheeks ,, Cashmere Biskit ,, Velvet Biskit ,, Blythe Baxter,, Brittany Biskit,, Whittany Biskit

My Little Pony :

G1 AU: >>>

Twilight Sparkle ,, Rarity ,, Pinkie Pie ,, Apple Jack ,, Fluttershy ,, Rainbow Dash ,, Spike ,, Sunset Shimmer ,, Starlight Glimmer ,, Trixie Lulamoon ,, Moondancer ,, Coco Pommel ,, Coloratura ‘Rara’ ,, Maud Pie ,, Limestone Pie ,, Marble Pie ,, Flutterbat ,, Chimera ,, The Diamond Dogs [Rover, Fido, and Spot] ,, Discord ,, Lord Tirek ,, Flurry Heart • ,, Cozy Glow • ,, Snowdrop • ,, Nightmare Moon ,, Daybreaker ,, Queen Chrysalis ,, Unreformed Changelings ,, Thorax ,, Pharynx ,, King Sombra ,, Tantabus ,, The Sphinx ,, Pony of Shadows // Stygian ,, Grogar

Megan Williams ,, Spike • ,, Danny Williams ,, Molly Williams • ,, The Moochick ,, The Bushwoolies ,, The Grundles ,, Sludge ,, G'nash ,, Dinah • ,, Squire Alonzo ,, The Crabnasties ,, Mayor Camembert ,, The Sheriff of Muensterville ,, Pluma [+The Ghost of Paradise Estate] ,, Woebegone ,, Mayve • ,, His Elevated Eminence •

Applejack ,, Bow Tie ,, Ember • ,, Firefly ,, Glory ,, Medley ,, Moondancer ,, Twilight ,, Heart Throb ,, Lickety-Split ,, Posey ,, Gusty ,, Buttons ,, Fizzy ,, Ribbon ,, Galaxy ,, Mimic ,, Gingerbread ,, Magic Star ,, Shady ,, Cherries Jubilee ,, Cupcake ,, Truly ,, Sweet Stuff ,, Wind Whistler ,, North Star ,, Paradise ,, Surprise ,, Lofty ,, Locket ,, Whizzer ,, Masquerade ,, Princess Tiffany ,, Princess Primrose ,, Princess Royal Blue ,, Princess Serena ,, Princess Sparkle ,, Princess Starburst ,, Baby Lickety-Split • ,, Morning Glory ,, Rosedust ,, Honeysuckle ,, Peach Blossom ,, Lily ,, Forget-Me-Not

Scorpan ,, Tirac ,, Beezen ,, The Duchess ,, Knight Shade ,, Zeb ,, Erebus ,, King Charlatan ,, Niblick ,, Draggle ,, Reeka ,, Hydia • ,, Ahgg ,, The Smooze • ,, Squirk ,, Crank ,, The Flores ,, Jewel Wizard ,, Lavan [+crystallized form] ,, Sting ,, Queen Bumble ,, Princess Porcina ,, The Raptorians ,, Crunch the Rockdog ,, The Sqree ,, Somnambula ,, Kyrie ,, Bray ,, Grogar

Seito Kure ,, Boron Makuroshi ,, Toru Garakuta ,, Haruma Neko

Popee The Performer + Chinchikurin :

Popee Paraphone // Hanabishi Kuruwaya ,, Kedamono // Keita Ookami ,, Papi ,, Marifa ,, Eepop (mirror Popee) ,, Onomadek (mirror Kedamono) ,, Nightmare Popee ,, Docter Popee [Phaeton & Me]

The Amazing Digital Circus :

Pomni ,, Caine ,, Bubble • ,, Ragatha ,, Jax ,, Zooble ,, Gangle ,, Kinger ,, Gloink Queen • ,, Dr. Football ,, Moon ,, Sun ,, Paine ,, The Bone Pastor,, Princess Loolilalu ,, Gummigoo ,, The Fudge • ,, Chad ,, Max

Abstracted characters [Digital+abstracted form] :

Kaufmo ,, Queenie ,, Rett (yellow dog) ,, Wriggle (worm on a string) ,, Doz (purple dinosaur) ,, Blonk (pink cyclops) ,, Moppsy (mouse sockpuppet) ,, Yucko (yellow rabbit-like creature) ,, Bizz (polka-dot covered clown)

Fan-made names by Sunnie_Daies on Reddit

Lego Monkie Kid : ••••

MK ‘Monkie Kid’ ,, Mei Dragon ,, Tang ,, Pigsy ,, Sandy ,, Mo • ,, Red Son ,, Demon Bull King ,, Princess Iron Fan ,, Bull clones • ,, Lady Bone Demon (+disguise form) ,, ‘Bai He’ • [little girl] ,, Spider Queen ,, Huntsman ,, Goliath [strong spider] ,, Sun Wukong ‘Monkey King’ ,, Six-Eared Macaque ,, Syntax (+pre-corrupted/human form) ,, The Mayor (+Chief of War) ,, Yin & Jin ,, Guardians of Knowledge • ,, Lion Guardians • ,, Demon Accountant ,, Ne'Zha/Third Lotus prince ,, Erlang Shen ,, Scorpion Queen ,, Azure Lion ,, Peng ,, Yellowtusk ,, Chang'e ,, Tang Sanzang ,, Zhu Bajie ,, Sha Wujing ,, Ao Lie ,, Ao Guang/Dragon of the East ,, Master Subodhi ,, Dragon Attendant ,, Kui Mulang ,, MK [party clone] ,, MK [artist clone] ,, MK [delivery clone] (he won't be obese here...) ,, MK [backup clone] ,, Ink MK ,, Store Owner ,, Li Jing ,, Xiangliu ‘Nine-Headed Demon’ ,, 100-Eyed Demon ,, Nüwa

Ferdinand :

Ferdinand (+young form) ,, Paco ,, Nina • ,, Juan ,, Valiente (+young form) ,, Guapo (+young form) ,, Bones (+young form) ,, Lupe ,, Angus ,, Maquina ,, Una ,, Dos ,, Cuatro ,, Hans ,, Greta ,, Klaus ,, El Primero

Disney movies (will accept all characters of said movie) :

Cuz it's too many characters to write down damn it

19s — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ,, The Chronicles of Prydain ,, Bambi ,, Cinderella ,, Alice in Wonderland ,, 101 Dalmatians ,, Peter Pan ,, Sleeping Beauty ,, The Fox and the Hound ,, The Little Mermaid ,, Beauty and the Beast ,, Aladdin ,, Hercules ,, The Lion King ,, Pocahontas ,, The Rescuers Down Under ,, The Hunchback of Notre Dame [fuck Frollo up for me, will you dear? <3] ,, Mulan ,, Tarzan

2000s — The Emperor's New Groove ,, Monsters, Inc. ,, Finding Nemo ,, Pirates of the Caribbean ,, Brother Bear ,, The Incredibles ,, Howl's Moving Castle ,, Ratatouille ,, Up ,, The Princess and The Frog

2010s/2020s — Tangled ,, Frozen ,, Brave ,, Maleficent ,, Inside Out ,, Zootopia ,, Finding Dory ,, Moana/Vaiana ,, Coco ,, Raya and the Last Dragon ,, Luca ,, Encanto

Misc. :

- Reisuke Houjou • [Mirai Nikki // Future Diary]

- Rococo [Omori]

- Tobey McCallister [WordGirl]

- Dr. Sylvester Ashling [Epithet Erased]

- Ahmanet (+alive Ahmanet) ••• [The Mummy]

- The Lamb // Lambert [Cult of the Lamb]

- ENA (+ _____ form) [Joel G]

- Sun [Two Face ,, GH'S Animation]

- Blommy // Bloomy [Fluffffpillow's oc]

- Nabbit [Super Mario Bros]

- Marx (+Marx Soul) [Kirby Milky Way Wishes]

- Manga Marx [Kirby of the Stars! Moretsu Pupupu Hour!]

- Taranza [Kirby: Triple Deluxe]

- Scooby-Doo [Velma Meets the Original Velma]

- Evil [I Eat Pasta For Breakfast by Chibi-Works]

- Eloise Sarah Bellrose ‘Stripes’ [I Eat Pasta For Breakfast by Chibi-Works]

- Patchy the Pirate // Flying Dutchman [SpongeBob SquarePants | The Time Travelling Ghost Pirate Theory] •••

° Rio Ranger (+Rio Laizer)/Toto Noel •••• ,, Sei Satou ••• [Your Turn To Die]

° Monaca Towa ,, Nagisa Shingetsu ,, Jataro Kemuri ,, Masaru Daimon ,, Kotoko Utsugi [Danganronpa // Warriors of Hope]

° Isaac “Zack” Foster ,, Rachel Gardner ,, Edward “Eddie” Mason ,, Daniel “Danny” Dickens ,, Catherine “Cathy” Ward ,, Abraham Grey [Angels of Death // Satsuriku no Tenshi]

° Satou Matsuzaka ,, Shio Kōbe • ,, Asahi Kōbe ,, Taiyō Mitsuboshi ,, Sumire Miyazaki ,, Mitori Tajima ,, Shōko Hida ,, Satou’s aunt • [Happy Sugar Life]

° Eun Sian ,, Chae Yul •••• ,, Chae Yuri ,, Hyun Yujin ,, Min Hyunee [Secret Alliance]

° Aoi Mukou ,, Miyuki Sone ,, Haru [You and Me and He // Totono]

° The Angel •••• - The Demon •••• - The small Demon • [Avogado6]

° Justine Florbelle ,, Aloïs Racine (+pre-torture, +mid-torture) ,, Basile Giroux (+pre-torture, +mid-torture) ,, Malo de Vigny (+pre-torture +mid-torture) [Amnesia: Justine] ••••

° Rush ,, Hide ,, Seek ,, Eyes ,, Halt ,, Ambush ,, Screech • ,, Figure ,, Jack ,, Glitch [Roblox Doors]

° Sharko ,, Marina ,, Zig ,, Bernie ,, The Ghastly Ghost ,, Manic Mermaid ,, King Neptune [Zig & Sharko]

° Oh ,, Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci • ,, Pig • ,, Gorg ,, Kyle ,, Captain Smek ,, Boov [Home 2015]

° Pound (+Monstar form) ,, Bang (+Monstar form) ,, Nawt (+Monstar form) ,, Bupkus (+Monstar form) ,, Blanko (+Monstar form) [Space Jam // The Nerdlucks]

° Charmander ,, Squirtle (+Wartortle) ,, Bulbasaur ,, Leader Caterpie ,, Whiskers ,, Gastly • ,, Haunter ,, Flareon ,, Chimchar ,, Turtwig ,, Abomasnow [Starter Squad by Shippiddge]

° Kitsunami the Fennec [Sonic the Hedgehog]

- [Any Tails variant will do tbh] ➴

OG Miles ‘‘Tails” Prower • movie Tails • boom Tails • Anti-Miles • SH/TSAA Tails • (There's something about Knuckles) Tails • Blacksmith • (Tails’ Dark Diary) Tails • WWMH Miles • Nine • Mangey • Sails • Tails.EXE • starved Tails • Inner Tails • Ali Baba • Tailsop • Tails-Zilla • Tails Doll • Metal Tails • Luther • (Tails Gets Trolled) Tails • AOSTH Tails • Zails the Zone Cop • pinball/brainwashed Tails • Requital (The Sonic Oddities) • (Sonic Prime) Tails • (The Ankh) Hologram Tails/Hollow • (Operation Crimson) Tails • (Operation Crimson) Flor • Tails emo AU (Kayla Green)

May add more in the future ...

[stellahavisham]

　 ୨ welcome to my blog ! ୧

hello! i'm an estella havisham (hellpark) fictionkin ,, this will be a kin blog! a little about me ...

☆ ; name : estella/stella

☆ ; pronouns : she/him + neos

☆ ; gender : bigender

☆ ; sexuality : lesbian

☆ ; likes : south park, vocaloid, drumming, poetry, drawing, goth subculture

please do not interact if you are a pro/com/darkshipper, i will also block freely if you make me uncomfortable.

[melodiiesxfmadness]

estelle despoina desrosiers

tracked tag: desrosiersx

nicknames: stell, stella, des, poina, madre / mama ( montgomery ).

entomology:

estelle - From an Old French name meaning “star”, ultimately derived from Latin stella. It was rare in the English-speaking world in the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, perhaps due to the character Estella Havisham in Charles D*ckens’ novel Great Expectations (1860).

despoina - Means “mistress, lady” in Greek. In Greek mythology this was the name of the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. She was worshipped in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were secret rites practiced at Eleusis near Athens.

desrosiers - Means “from the rose bushes”, from French rosier “rose bush”. It probably referred to a person who lived close to, or cared for a rose garden.

date of birth: 11.22.1973

zodiac sign: sagittarius

place of birth: rochester, ny

residence: washingtown, d.c.

gender: female

species: mortal

occupation: fbi special agent, Major Crimes Unit ( 2003 - present )

previous occupation:

lvmpd || las vegas metro police department ( 6 years, last 4 as a member of S.W.A.T. ) | 1997 - 2002

2016 - 2018 ; temporarily reassigned to the norfolk field office as part of a special task force

orientation: heterosexual

parents: both deceased.

sibling (s):

Iris Clara Desrosiers | younger sister, 33

Alexander Josue Desrosiers | older brother, 52

pets:

Agamemnon ; Belgian Malinois ; retired service dog ; 03.02.2020

Alfalfa ; American Akita ; fully trained guard dog

children:

1, montgomery “monty” jacob booth ( son || date of birth; april 25th, 2008 | father is seeley booth )

height & weight: 5'4", 175 lbs.

hair & eyes: dyed blonde ( naturally a brunette ), green.

piercings: two holes in each ear.

tattoos:

[ 001; claddagh ring ] – located along the curve of her spine, estelle got this tattoo at the five month mark of her pregnancy with her son ( montgomery ), although there is a noticeable crack in the heart.

[ 002 ] ; “The only way to a woman’s heart is along the path of torment.” - Marquis de Sade / located on the ribcage, left side. // this tattoo was acquired in 2015.

education:

James Monroe High School ( 1988 - 1992 )

St. John’s University ( bachelor’s in criminal justice || 1992 - 1996 ).

extra curricular activities: ice skating, girls hockey, lacrosse and field hockey.

NYPD Police Academy Training ( 6 months. || 1997. )

FBI Academy Training ( 20 weeks || 2003. )

religion: catholic.

additional spoken languages: english ( native ), french, arabic, pashto, farsi, russian, mandarin, german, portuguese, czech, & dutch.

nationality: french-american ( 4th generation )

heritage: american • greek • french

ethnicity: European / Greek

instagramaccount: ( not real. ) blondieinthenatcap ( short for blondie in the nation’s capital )

additional training in muy thai & krav maga

served for six years in the las vegas metro pd, four of those six years were on the LVMPD swat team // left the lvmpd at the rank of Sergeant

went to college for her bachelor’s in criminal justice

almost became a federal marshall instead of an fbi agent.

was actually recruited twice by the fbi while in the LVPD, the last time was when she took the offer.

estelle & montgomery live EXACTLY three floors above seeley in the same building. ( pre-booth/brennan. * updated version is she moved into a condo mid 2010. )

backup guns: Beretta Nano ( 9mm ), Beretta Pico ( .380 )

main on duty gun: Glock 22

favorite things: hazelnut mochaccino with coconut milk, chouquettes, raspberry creme filled crossiants, greek yogurt with sliced bananas and peanut butter, Macaróns, Madeleines, & Mille-Feuille.

ps4 gamer; all three bioshock games, until dawn, homefront: the revolution, we happy few, sims 4, the evil within, the evil within 2, red dead redemption, fallout 4, call of duty: modern warfare, call of duty: ghosts, call of duty: ww ii, far cry 5, assassin’s creed IV: black flag, assassin’s creed: origins, tomb raider.

personal preference: reign total body fuel is far superior ( especially in taste ) over bang energy, which she took TWO SIPS OF AND FOUND IT WAY MORE SUGARY THAN NECESSARY. ( will drink it as a substitute for coffee during the warmer months especially. )

cleaned floors and did laundry for extra cash throughout college.

wears reading glasses for tiny text in printed items ( books, magazines, newspapers, etc ) & on screens ( phone, tablets, laptops ). // been wearing them since she was 39.

can & still does play - the oboe, the piccolo, & alto saxophone.

[this-is-madsness]

OK, this might be the most beautiful thing I ever bought for anyone!

Hopefully I'll be able to give them to @gillianaofficial when I am at @factsconvention in Gent (Belgium) on the 7th and 8th of April.

Wish me luck!!!

[carmelas]

I became an actor because it was the only thing I could do. I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t fit in. But when I started acting, everything in my life shifted and I felt happy.

(redbubble)

[chimerart]

  An inexhaustible source of inspiration.Thank you! ❤️

[stannyyytweakkk]

Los demonios rubios a mala calidad jaja (ignoren los errores xfa)

[if-music-be-the-food-of-love]

2, 7 🥰

Tasfia, hiiiii. Thank you!!!! 🥰🥰

2. A Blue book.

I had to look at my shelf bc the first thing that came to mind was Lorna Doone, and I’m pretty sure no one reads that anymore (even I don’t/couldn’t…I could use it for number 7, actually).

So instead, The Lovely Bones. This book…I was a mess. I actually owned it for 3-4 years before I finally had the courage to read it. The topic is so hard (narrated by a girl who was murdered), but the book is gorgeous, downright beautifully written, so meaningful and deep. I’ll never forget it, but I don’t know that I’ll ever read it again bc I just can’t with that topic right now (or ever).

7. A book I never finished.

This one...😂😂 I’ve started Great Expectations 3 times and NEVER finished it. I finally just decided it wasn’t meant to be, and it wasn’t worth it. Ugh, the characters were just so unlikeable, and I couldn’t stand Miss Havisham or the relationship between Stella and Pip. I just don’t like Dickens, omg, and I’ve tried. I really have. I just can’t. It took me two tries to get through A Tale of Two Cities, and the only other one I’ve finished is A Christmas Carol. Honestly, I dislike Dickens so much that I’m not even embarrassed about this. He’s just not my cup of tea.

Ask me about books plz

[aion-rsa]

9 Best TV Roles From Gillian Anderson

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Full-time TV goddess and part-time television detective Gillian Anderson is never far from our minds. Here are nine of our favorite TV roles from the actress, whose on-screen legacy reaches far past The X-Files franchise to British period dramas, eccentric Bryan Fuller shows, and animated snarkiness.

Dana Scully in The X-Files

Let’s just get this way out of the way, shall we? Not because Anderson’s turn as Agent Dana Scully over the course of 11 seasons (and counting?) of The X-Files TV show and two The X-Files movies should or could be diminished, but because most everyone is familiar with Anderson’s turn as the chronically skeptical FBI agent.

Dana Katherine Scully is more than a TV character. She’s an institution. I grew up watching The X-Files and having a female character who wasn’t the same cookie-cutter example of what it was to be a woman made me feel like much more was possible. Gillian Anderson’s understated, yet affecting portrayal of the character was a large part of that.

Scully was (and still is) complex and flawed. She is a scientist with a commitment to her Catholic faith. She is a skeptic who, nonetheless, believes in Mulder. And she is funny as anything—much of that down to Anderson’s dry, deadpan delivery (“Bad Blood” being a great, oft-cited example). If Gillian Anderson had to have one character define her career, she could do a lot worse that Scully.

Miss Havisham in Great Expectations

If you’re looking for a great Great Expectations adaptation, the 2011 BBC/PBS miniseries is not your best bet. If you’re looking for a role in which Gillian Anderson gets to chew up the scenery in a miniseries-stealing performance, this three-part series is for you.

Anderson is so often cast in understated roles, and she plays them incredibly well, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t gratifying to see her make moves as a completely over-the-top villainous character, like her turn as the bitter, mentally unstable, and highly-flammable Miss Havisham. As they should probably start saying in England: Come for the Dickens, stay for the Anderson.

Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in Hannibal

Hannibal is not a show for the faint of heart, but it rewards viewers endlessly with its sumptuous visuals, unpredictably gruesome plot, and its ridiculously stellar cast. Gillian Anderson is only one of the many talented actors who make up this ensemble — including Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne, and Gina Torres.

Remember how we were talking about how Anderson often plays understated characters? Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier may be the most understated of the bunch. Perhaps the most enigmatic character on a show filled with enigmatic characters, Anderson manages to imbue the sly, clever Bedelia with a complex vulnerability that her cold, proper surface only occasionally lets through. If you are a fan of Gillian Anderson or good TV, Hannibalis a must-watch.

Lady Dedlock in Bleak House

A big part of Gillian Anderson’s career renaissance has been Dickensian adaptations and this is, perhaps, the best example. The BBC did a 15-part (eight-hour) adaptation of Bleak House in 2015. Anderson took on the role of the cold, secretive Lady Dedlock and she is one of many deft moving parts in this brilliant retelling of the Dickens classic, which is much more fun than its lawyer-heavy premise might suggest.

Anderson seemingly agrees. She spoke with The Daily Beast about finding an appreciation for Dickens through her acting, saying:

One of the only things that I have regrets about in my life is my experience of school and education. I wish I had known how important it was to pay attention … My first foray into a lot of the classics has been through my work. It’s only after falling in love with the screenplay or adaptation that I’ve then gone on to read the novels themselves.

Stella Gibson in The Fall

If you’re and Anderson fan and haven’t yet watched The Fall,a Northern Ireland-set crime drama about the cat-and-mouse game between Detective Inspector Stella Gibson and serial killer Paul Spector (played by Jamie Dornan), then stop reading this and go do so now. Anderson plays Stella Gibson, an English DI who is brought to Belfast to stop the series of murders of young professional women that have been occurring in the city. The Fall has been celebrated for the fact that Anderson plays a character who is almost always male. She is extremely focused (and good at) her job, sees sex as a primarily casual habit, and doesn’t have the most robust of personal lives.

Anderson’s nuanced performance makes Stella a strong and sympathetic character — one who is deeply affected by the way that men take out their anger and frustrations out on women, and who knows how to navigate a world and professional space riddled with misogyny and casual sexism. Anderson has called Stella Gibson her favorite role, and it’s easy to see why. The actress is asked to do a lot in the BBC drama—and she more than steps up to the challenge.

Dana Scully in The Simpsons

Sure, this is really just a guest starring role on someone else’s TV show, but how could we not include at least one of Gillian Anderson’s animated turns? (She also appears briefly on Robot Chicken,as Fiona.) This X-Files spoof episode—”The Springfield Files”—comes in The Simpson’s eighth season and it is filled with in-jokes about the paranormal drama. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson basically just voice their characters, but — as A.V. Club‘s review notes — “Anderson is, if anything, even more restrained than she is on The X-Files, which makes her lines funnier.”

“The Springfield Files” is far from the best episode of The Simpsons, but it is another great example of the kind of range Anderson has. Sure, she may be playing another version of her most well-known character, but getting that same character across in voice work is far different from getting that character across on live-action TV. Anderson nails it.

Media in American Gods

Sadly, Gillian Anderson is no longer on American Gods, which has suffered a series of high-profile “departures” that began with the “exit” of showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green before Season 2. But we will always have one season of Anderson as Media, the mouthpiece of the New Gods, in this Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel. As Media takes on the form of various celebrities and lives off the worship people give to their various screens, we got to see Anderson transform herself into people like Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, and David Bowie—a smorgasbord of eclectic Anderson performances all in one show! For one season, we truly were blessed.

Jean Milburn in Sex Education

For a show that is mostly about The Youths, Anderson certainly makes her presence felt in Netflix’s British dramedy Sex Education. Anderson plays Jean Milburn, a single mom to teen protagonist Otis (Asa Butterfield), and a sex therapist. When Otis somewhat accidentally shares some of the sex education his mother has been feeding him presumably for his entire adolescence to a school bully, he falls into the sex advice business, helping his classmates with their sexual struggles. As Jean, Anderson gets to be both wise and neurotic, a mother and not defined by it. She also gets to regularly deliver lines like: “Why don’t you start by telling me your earliest memory of your scrotum.” Honestly, we deserve this show and its brilliant casting of Gillian Anderson.

Anna Pavlovna in War & Peace

Still have room for one more Gillian Anderson-starring period drama? (You know you do.) In this lush yet somewhat soulless 2016 adaptation of Tolstoy’s tome, Anderson plays “glittering society hostess” Anna Pavlovna. Written by period adaptation master Andrew Davies and directed by Peaky Blinders‘ Tom Harper and featuring a cast that also includes Paul Dano, Lily James, and James Norton, War & Peace has a lot going for it even if it never fully capitalizes on its deep reserves of talent and, honestly, with such an expansive cast and Anderson in a supporting role, our fave only gets a small amount of screen time. But, per the usual, Anderson steals the show.

What are your favorite Gillian Anderson TV roles? Sound off in the comments below…

The post 9 Best TV Roles From Gillian Anderson appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3aMACIh

[heresince93]

Full transcript of Gillian’s Sunday Times Interview

Gillian Anderson interview: Sex Education, phalluses, and why she’s hot for comedy

A coming-of-age comedy from Netflix puts therapist Gillian Anderson on the couch with her teenage son. She’s got ‘the chat’ down pat, she says.

Two things are striking from a tour of the set of Sex Education, Netflix’s new coming-of-age comedy. The first is how much a disused university campus in Newport has been made to look like your favourite US high-school TV show. There are sports pennants on the wall, the corridors are lined with battered lockers and the oversized serif M of the fictional Moordale High is on every pane of glass. You have to remind yourself it’s Newport, Wales, not Newport, California (though the drizzle helps).

Gillian Anderson was so taken with the set that she took pictures to show her friends. “Would you like to see them?” she says, passing me her mobile. “I think 50% of the pictures on my phone are now of one kind of phallus or another. Look at that. It’s a chess set that’s been made out of penises and vaginas. Aren’t they amazing? All those little penis pawns.”

The set she’s showing me is the house belonging to her character, Jean, and the reason there are so many phalluses is that Jean is a sex therapist. Sex Education is about Jean and her 16-year-old son, Otis (Asa Butterfield). Jean has no filter, is a prodigious oversharer, introduces her son to her various lovers and hands out condoms at parties. All Otis’s life, she has been a constant embarrassment to her son.

As a result, he is terrified of intimacy and can barely even look at his own penis. But when he runs into trouble at high school, his extensive sexual knowledge, gleaned through listening to sessions through cracks in the floorboards, turns out to be a gift that is much sought-after — so Otis sets up a clinic of his own on campus.

“The original idea actually came from a Channel 4 documentary called The Joy of Teen Sex,” says Laurie Nunn, the show’s creator. “Someone at the production company saw it and came up with the pitch, which was about this kid who’s been raised by this sex-therapist mum, but he has problems with his own sex life.”

To that premise, Nunn and the director Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) have added an unusual backdrop: Sex Education is set in a British secondary school that feels as if it has been teleported into a John Hughes film. The pupils wear backpacks and arrive in drop tops; the soundtrack is MOR hair rock; there are verifiable jocks, nerds and bully boys; and, although everyone speaks with an English accent, the sky is always a Californian blue.

“I’ve always said to my agent that my dream gig would be an American-style high-school comedy — quite rare in this country,” Taylor says. “This is a genre I’ve grown up loving, and I’ve really been frustrated that this country doesn’t seem to produce a ‘positive school experience’ on screen. There are movies like Gregory’s Girl, but I was looking for something of that tone on television. I found it in abundance in Laurie’s script.”

A character such as Jean in a series such as Sex Education marks a decidedly different tack for Anderson, too. From Scully in The X-Files to Miss Havisham in the BBC’s Great Expectations to Stella Gibson in three series of The Fall, she has made her name as the nation’s favourite ice maiden. Ice maidens aren’t generally hilariously confident failing mothers; ice maidens don’t make dick jokes.

“This script was so refreshing,” she says, “not just because it’s different, but also because I don’t get to be funny often in my career. The stuff I get is FBI agent, CIA agent, period stuff or women who commit suicide. With this, I just laughed and laughed and laughed at every script. I just felt like I couldn’t say no.”

It’s not that she can’t do comedy, she points out, it’s just that she doesn’t get offered it that much: it’s often forgotten that a portion of The X-Files episodes were comedic, at least in part. “I think back then I found I could do them as well [as serious material], and some of the theatre I have done has been comedic, but I don’t often get offered straight comedy.

“I might be offered a comedy, but I’m the straight man as opposed to getting to be goofy or erotic in a humorous way.”

In the case of Sex Education, Jean is both goofy and humorously erotic. It is also a subject Anderson knows a little bit about — not so much the sex-therapist bit (though she gives a good explanation of scrotal dysfunction to this wide-eyed innocent) but the mothering. She has two boys aged 10 and 12, as well as a 24-year-old daughter: she has had plenty of time to think about the whys and wherefores of “the chat”.

“My sons are literally about to start a new school,” she says. ���They’re about to go through all of this. What’s fantastic about the series is, aside from being incredibly funny, it just puts front and centre what all kids are dealing with on a daily basis.”

Through her children, Anderson recognises that when it comes to teenage sexuality, smartphones have changed the game in a single decade. “It’s because of social media. There’s so much… almost dysmorphia about it. Everything is so out of proportion and not where the focus should be in terms of intimacy.

“Ultimately, sex is the most intimate thing one can do with another human being — how do you teach kids that? It’s fabulous in this to be able to draw attention to all the misguided versions of what sex is today for teenagers.”

Asa Butterfield, 21 but looking much younger, is about as close as you’ll come to a teenager on the Sex Education set. He thinks the show will provide a helping hand to teens lost in the morass of 21st-century sex. “It almost takes the pressure off people, because we deal with these issues in quite a blunt and straightforward way. It’s just saying that everyone has these issues, and it’s all normal. It shows them that it’s not a big deal to be scared or be behind.”

Anderson, sporting a short platinum bob that happens to make her look more icily unapproachable than ever, says filming Sex Education has made her less afraid of speaking to her own children. “That’s all it is, really — fear. Fear about approaching the subject, then the awkwardness and not wanting to be awkward, not wanting to make them awkward. There was a situation recently when I noticed I could have taken the conversation into a broader arena, and for some reason chose not to. I thought, ‘Have I not learnt anything?’”

Sex Education, it should be pointed out, is not a public-information film: first and foremost it’s a laugher. Inevitably, there’s plenty of sex and nudity (from the very first scene), but, as with Taylor’s Catastrophe, the sex is either awkward or joyous, never gratuitous. “One of the challenges,” Nunn says, “is always trying to keep the tone right — because they are teenagers. It’s still having the sex scenes and dealing with some quite graphic stuff, but keeping it totally appropriate and fun.”

Netflix has high hopes for the series, and you can see why. In one sense, it’s the perfect Netflix product, with Jean’s story playing to an older demographic, the John Hughes nods appealing to gen X nostalgia, and Butterfield, a child star from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, a gawky but gutsy shoo-in for the 16- to 24-year-olds.

“Fingers crossed,” Nunn says, “that the generations can watch it, because I think the Jean stuff, particularly, exists in its own world. You can watch that and get a lot of enjoyment out of it, alongside the teenage characters. But in some ways older people could watch the teenage characters, too: it’s more about being a teenager than being just for teenagers. And everyone’s done that.”

Sex Education is available on Netflix from January 11

[flexiblefish]

Source:[X]

by Gavanndra Hodge 12 JANUARY 2019

Gillian Anderson is hard to pin down. Is she American or English? (Her accent slips between the two, depending on who she is talking to.) Guarded or warm? (She can be either, based on her mood.) Tough or vulnerable? (Or both?)

'‘Because my parents were American and we lived here in the UK, there was always a sense of not quite fitting in. Because of that I’ve always felt a bit of an outsider. I have perpetuated that because that is what feels familiar to me, it is what feels comfortable,’ she explains. When we meet Anderson is English and warm, talking about the birthday parties she has to organise (she has three children, Piper, 24, Oscar, 12, and Felix, 10); and although she is very petite, wearing white patent stiletto boots and slender black trousers, she exudes the commanding charisma that makes her perfect for her imminent roles. Rumour has it that she will be playing Margaret Thatcher in an upcoming series of The Crown, the Netflix series created and co-written by her partner, Peter Morgan. No one is confirming this, but no one is denying it either. Meanwhile, this month she stars in a new Netflix series, Sex Education, in which she plays a sex therapist who lives with her teenage son (Asa Butterfield). And in February Anderson has another plum role: Margo Channing in Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove’s much-anticipated adaptation of All About Eve, also starring Lily James as Eve, with music by PJ Harvey. The play – a modern reinterpretation of the 1950 film, which starred Bette Davis as Channing, a blazing Broadway star who is gradually supplanted by a younger rival – is about ambition and betrayal, femininity and anger, stardom and personal sacrifice. Anderson’s is a bravura role, one that requires not just the cool intensity that we have come to expect from her, but also humour. Channing is deliciously droll, delivering endlessly quotable lines with comic precision (‘I’ll admit I may have seen better days, but I’m still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut’). ‘A couple of years ago my boyfriend Pete said to me, “You know what would be a great role for you? Margo Channing,”’ Anderson says. ‘So I rewatched the film and I thought, “Oh my God, how much fun would that be!”’ Anderson, not one to wait for opportunity, discovered that theatre producer Sonia Friedman had the rights to the script and was working on it with van Hove – Cate Blanchett was set to be Channing. ‘So I thought, “Ah OK, I’ll just slink into the background.” Then my agents got a call to say that she [Blanchett] had backed out due to scheduling conflicts, and there was interest, and was I interested? So I was like, “Yes! When’s the meeting? Now?”’ Van Hove, on the phone from New York, is equally excited to be working with Anderson. ‘Margo needs someone who understands what the theatre is all about, someone who can carry a play, who can occupy the whole stage, and Gillian can do that; she is a fabulous theatre actress. Although, of course, she became iconic for me in the 1990s when she was in The X-Files.’ There is something a little surprising about Ivo van Hove, an avant-garde director celebrated for his reinterpretations of plays and operas such as Hedda Gabler, Antigone and Lulu, professing fandom for a mid-’90s sci-fi series; but that is to forget the huge cultural impact of The X-Files, its quality and its ingenuity. The series was about two FBI agents, played by Anderson and David Duchovny, who attempt to unravel various natural and supernatural mysteries. No one expected it to become such a success, least of all Anderson, who was 24 when she was cast in the show. It was her first major role and it made her a star. She won multiple awards for her portrayal of the sceptical Dr Dana Scully, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. But such stardom often involves sacrifice and Anderson was suffering. The production schedule for The X-Files was brutal, involving 16-hour days for nine months of the year. Furthermore, in 1994, aged 25, Anderson married Clyde Klotz, assistant art director on the series, and nine months later she gave birth to their daughter, Piper. After three years she and Klotz divorced. It was while she was pregnant that Anderson started having severe panic attacks. ‘I was having them daily,’ she explains, experiencing palpitations, numbness, ‘hallucinations, all of it’. Things didn’t get better once Piper was born. ‘I was a young mother, and shortly after that we were separating, and I was working these crazy hours. I remember periods of time when I was just crying, my make-up was being done over and over again and I was not able to stop crying.’ Anderson sought solace in meditation. ‘I went to somebody and there was a meditation we did together. We went to some quite dark places and I got to see that I could still survive those dark places, I was stronger than they were, and after that the panic attacks stopped.’ Anderson had been having panic attacks, on and off, ‘since high school’. As a teenager she was a daydreamer and a troublemaker who felt different from her peers in Michigan because of her childhood in Harringay, having left the ‘incy-bincy flat with a bathroom outside’ that she and her parents lived in when she was 11 years old, when her family moved back to the US. ‘I started falling in with groups and trying to fit in, until it got to the point when it was like, “I don’t f—ing want to fit in. I want to look completely different to all of you, and stop staring at me because I have a mohawk.” I’d shave the sides of my head with a razor blade and dye my hair different colours.’ Anderson’s parents, Rosemary and Ed, were living in Chicago and were both just 26 when she was born. Soon afterwards the family moved to London so Ed could attend film school, while Rosemary worked as a computer programmer. ‘My parents were working very hard and would often work late. I have lots of memories of playing by myself in the back garden and searching for friends in the neighbourhood because I didn’t have siblings.’ After moving back to America, Rosemary and Ed had two more children, a son and a daughter. Anderson admits that her adolescent waywardness might have been related to the arrival of two new babies in the house. ‘I made trouble and I got attention that way.’ Acting is another way to get attention, something Anderson learnt early on. ‘I remember being in a play when I was in primary school. I was meant to be a Chelsea fan. I started chewing gum on stage and blowing bubbles and got all the attention. I thought, “This is all right, everybody is watching me!”’ But when she reached 16 and started doing more professional productions in America, performing became fundamentally important to her. ‘I enjoyed the connection between performer and audience, the control. And I remember thinking, “I can do this. They are showing me I can do this.” 'It changed everything in my life, knowing I could do something. Prior to that there hadn’t been that moment yet when I found purpose and direction.’ Anderson decided that she wanted to pursue acting as a career and was accepted at The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago. ‘From the very start of school I didn’t go into the dorms, instead I found an apartment with a roommate in a funky neighbourhood. I was the only one who was living out of school. That is my pattern, carving my own thing. 'All through [theatre] school I dressed like I was a member of The Cure. That was how I was in the world, grungy, not considered, not mature. I was forthright and gutsy – I drove myself to Chicago in my dad’s VW van – but slightly falling apart.’ She always knew she would return to England. ‘My childhood here, the smell of north London, it has such a massive tug on me. I really felt, when we moved to the States, that I would eventually have a life back here.’ She and Piper moved to the city after The X-Files ended its original run, and she went on to have two more children, Oscar and Felix, with her now ex-boyfriend, businessman Mark Griffiths (there was also a marriage to British documentary maker Julian Ozanne, which lasted for two years, with the couple separating in 2006).

In the UK Anderson’s career developed in a way that might not have been expected for the golden girl of ’90s sci-fi. She took juicy roles in big-budget period dramas – Lady Dedlock in Bleak House, Miss Havisham in Great Expectations – and appeared on stage, at the Royal Court and the Donmar Warehouse. But it was her performance in the BBC detective drama The Fall, starting in 2013, that solidified her reputation as the go-to actor for female characters who are charismatic and powerful. Anderson, as DSI Stella Gibson, was imperious in her white silk shirts and high heels, unwavering in her pursuit of the serial killer played by Jamie Dornan. The screenwriter Allan Cubitt created the role of Gibson with Anderson in mind. ‘I wanted Gibson to be an enigmatic figure. Gillian is a riveting actress, but there is an aloofness to her as well. Also I was attempting to reclaim the idea of the powerful femme fatale, without the fatale; someone who is aware that her beauty can be used to help her ends. That she is unafraid of that was radical.’ Anderson was deeply involved in the creation of Gibson’s look, altering the way she thought about herself in the process. ‘What fascinated me about her, and I feel that we were able to find that in the costume design, was that the way she dressed never felt like it was for anyone else but her. I don’t think I have necessarily changed the way I dress since her, but I feel like I am certainly more conscious of what I wear and what it says.’ As a younger woman her style was ‘messy, like a discarded urchin’. She would wear oversized suits and ‘floppy dresses that I had probably stolen from the thrift store’. Whereas now her look is sleek, and she favours brands like Jil Sander, Prada and Dries Van Noten. The Fall was about gender, power and desire; and it was while filming it in Belfast that Anderson began thinking more about the struggles that women face in the 21st century. ‘I was reading all these statistics about young girls being suicidal and having such low self-esteem and I thought, “Surely, given everything that we know, and the fact we are all having these feelings, can we not start a conversation about whether we want this and how to deal with it?”’ This morphed into her writing a book, We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere, with her friend, the writer and activist Jennifer Nadel, in 2017. Alternating between pieces by Anderson and Nadel, it details their own personal struggles, and includes practical sections on how to deal with issues such as anxiety and low self-esteem using practices such as meditation, affirmations and gratitude lists. ‘We both know how it feels to be in emotional pain,’ says Nadel. ‘Both of us have felt lost, and found a spiritual way out. Both of us have experienced radical transformation as a result of the things that we wrote about in that book.’ Cubitt and Nadel each say that among the most impressive things about Anderson, as a collaborator, are her focus and drive. ‘I have never met anyone with Gillian’s ability to focus. And she has a certainty about things, she is not mired in indecision,’ says Nadel. What this means is not just an incredibly long CV, but numerous satellite projects. Anderson has a line of smart, grown-up clothes that she has developed with the brand Winser London (‘I didn’t realise I was so opinionated about buttons!’). She also works for numerous charities, focusing especially on women’s rights and environmental issues. ‘Because of my work ethic and also having had such high expectations, both of myself and other people’s of me, at such a young age, I think it became near to impossible for me to relax at all, to do anything that wasn’t work-related, so a lot of my later adult life has been trying to force myself to do that, and I struggle so hard, and sometimes I lose sight of it. So there is a part of me that wonders if I am slightly addicted [to work], I learnt it so young.’ The scant spare time that Anderson allows herself is spent ‘going to the cinema, to the theatre, watching documentaries’. Piper, who has just completed a degree in production and costume design, is now living in her mother’s basement, and the two of them recently went on a trip to Amsterdam to see van Hove’s four-hour stage adaptation of the Hanya Yanagihara novel A Little Life. That might not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but Anderson loved it. And despite all the seriousness and the self-examination (or perhaps because of it), she is good company, thoughtful and witty. She has, she says, got happier as she has got older, less self-critical, more self-accepting. ‘I am constantly reminded of the fact that I am not normal. But fortunately I have enough abnormal people around me to help me feel that it is actually OK.’

[dangerscully]

What are her acting ambitions? "I want to do everything." What would she like to be in? "Streetcar." Blanche or Stella? "Blanche." Of course Blanche. She has quietly established a post-Scully roster of women destroyed by brutal societies - Wharton's Lily, Ibsen's Nora, Miss Havisham, and, if she has her way, Tennessee Williams's Blanche DuBois. Dana Scully, the role that made Anderson, was in this sense a career blip. "I auditioned for Blanche at drama college. I thought I could have played her then, but didn't - it's tragic. It's something I've always wanted to do before I die." 

- The Guardian, 2011

[fuckyeahstellagibson]

What drew you to Stells Gibson?

Well, I used to be a massive X-Phile, so I’ve always followed what Gillian was doing, on and off. I’ve seen most of the London plays she’s been in, seen most of her movies too. And of course all the very British, traditional BBC costume dramas she’s been in, like Bleak House and Great Expectations (as someone tweeted about Miss Havisham:  "Nothing says Christmas quite like Gillian Anderson covered in flour.")

 So when I heard about The Fall, even though I’m not really a fan of British thrillers, I checked it out. I got quickly hooked. Stella Gibson is such a unique character, and the feminist elements of the script made me keep watching. 

However, as amazing as Stella is, Reed Smith arriving on her bike also made a big impression. As much as I love Stella I think S3 suffered from Reed’s absence. I missed the sounding board that Reed had become to Stella (which is pretty much the same thing that happened in The Good Wife when Kalinda got sidelined, Alicia had no-one left to confide in and it hurt the show). 

But, yeah, to come back to your question, what drew me the most to Stella besides the fact that she made me realise I was queer, is this unshakable certainty she seems to possess about who she is. She’s strong but also sensitive, she’s abrupt yet cautious, and she evolves in a world of men without obeying traditional gender roles. Something quite confusing for her male entourage because she “passes” for your average pretty woman: blonde, skirts, heels, lingerie...etc, and yet, there is little weakness or shallowness in her femininity. 

Studies have shown that women doubt and underestimate themselves more than men, (it was mentioned in the recent BBC documentary: "No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?”) and what I love about Stella is that she knows exactly who she is, there is no room for self doubt. She knows herself, her qualities and her flaws, and she accepts it all. It gives her such a solid bedrock to deal with whatever the world throw at her. And this is a quality I admire.