#Though why is Cora called Natalie

[larry-is-my-anchor1]

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."

Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

[evermoire]

like a rainbow with all of the colors | pack.

“lydia... lydia, no! lydi—-” 

cora’s cry abruptly cut off when lydia pounced on her. the couch cushions sank beneath their combined weight, cora leaning almost completely onto mason as lydia straddled her hips, makeup brush in hand. scott snickered, snapping a photo, catching the rare sight of cora’s flushed cheeks as she and lydia laughed, the wolf doing a poor halfhearted job of dodging lydia’s makeup brush. “mason, hold her down,” lydia demanded, the seriousness off the command lost to the way she giggled.

cora’s laughter rang louder, hands loosely gripping lydia’s wrists to keep her at bay, back arching and eyes crinkling. “no! absolutely not, je refuse!”

lydia’s arms went limp as she dissolved into another round of breathless laughter, body curling forward. “i hate you,” she gasped through her giggles, lifting her wrist to wipe tears from her eyes. “you had one french lesson with ally, and this is what you do with it?” and when cora nodded, the two laughed even harder. “cora, you promised! you said i could do your makeup for thanksgiving!”

“you are such a liar!”

“...let me do it anyway!”

arms full of dinner precursors, derek paused to watch the two. they seemed... lighter. though they still hadn’t solved things with the wolf, the cops or kate, november had proven to be calm, in comparison. lydia’s seventeenth birthday came and went without a hitch, and mason’s birthday celebrations were being mixed into today’s events, his presents stashed away in the summer kitchen for later. as november trickled by without a single problem, everyone relaxed in a way derek didn’t think they were capable of.

cora hadn’t been much of a cheerful kid, but she laughed so openly now. it was something that was so natural and rare and unforgettable all at once.

“girls,” scott’s mom called as she headed back in the house, noam stilinski in tow with grocery bags, “no playing on the couch. rosie, go tell jude to take her medicine before she grabs another banana nut muffin. and tell her if i see her with another cupcake before dinner, she’s not seeing another cupcake until she’s my age.”

“cosigned!” david whittemore called from where he and hershel were chatting in the ‘nice’ living room.

“yes, ma’am,” cora and lydia chorused, cheeks red and wet with errant tears as lydia dropped a lipsticked kiss onto cora’s forehead and allowed the wolf to shove her off. the redhead giggled as cora failed to remove the lipstick stain and the two began to childishly, playfully stick their tongues out at each other, before giggling again. 

liam sat down on the arm of the couch, splitting a muffin that ariadne had given him and offering a half to mason. days spent at the greene farm were more common than not nowadays. it had taken no serious amount of thought to decide that packsgiving ( as evie and bailey earnestly dubbed it ) should be held here. and though parents hadn’t been required to come along, it had only felt natural that their families spend this time with them. the pack had free range of the place, so most of the day could be spent to themselves, whether outside or in the barn, while the adults were content to stay in the main house and enjoy time together. liam had been worried that his parents would find it strange that he’d made such a varied group of friends, when he’d always struggled to make one friend before, but they’d been overjoyed. since then, all of the pack parents had gotten along swell, despite not knowing the nature of how their kids all became friends. he’d never known that community parenting was actually a thing until all of the pack parents started doing it and doing it well.

last liam heard, the adults had a very active group chat. he tried not to think about it. 

his nose crinkled as he swallowed a bite. “isn’t jude teaching doctor deaton how to cyberbully the sheriff?”

“maggie told her to stop,” kira provided as she made her way down the stairs, a small smile fitted on her face. “the last thing we need is, and i quote, ‘all of the important adults in town to start kinkshaming the sheriff into resignation.’”

liam blinked. “why would we not want that?”

kira held up her hands innocently. “maggie’s words, not mine. though i think she’s more opposed to the kinkshaming than the resigning.” she made her way to the table, where derek was dutifully setting up bowls and baskets of deviled eggs — stuffed eggs, hershel had corrected when cole had called them that, flabbergasted at the idea of giving the devil credit for his wife’s delicious cooking — and various breads and snacks, and lowered her voice. “allison, bailey and i checked all of the wards around the property. they’re standing strong and i don’t feel anything bad anywhere near us. oh, and danny's still caught up in that thing with his dad, but he did check to make sure no one was trying to track any cars or phones or anything like that, and he’s running interference to make sure no one does. and noah put up an anti-scrying spell this morning. we’re all good.”

derek met her gaze and nodded, smiling at her. for whatever reason, kira was taking security more seriously than he was today, which was truly a feat. he had to imagine it had a lot to do with all of the precious and oblivious parties on the farm today. “thank you. have glenn, isaac and evie check the wards and the spell again in about two hours. did you get a chance to call your parents?”

kira shook her head, helping him spread out the food. “not yet. time difference; they’re not even up yet. i was going to call them around dinner time.” she shrugged a bit. “it’s a little weird being without them.”

his smile grew a little sad but understanding. “i know. do you think you want to go out to visit them for christmas?”

kira blinked, not having expected the question. “i... haven’t thought about it. i don’t know if glenn and i have the money for th... no,” she said, seeing the look in derek’s eyes. “no. i’m not asking you to send me to korea, derek.”

“you didn’t ask,” he pointed out. “and you don’t have to say anything now. you have a month. if you change your mind between now and then, just let me know. ...what?”

“you’re very sweet,” kira teased, eyes shining as she grinned up at him. “your love language is giving people things and acts of service. i think that’s amazing.”

he smiled sarcastically at her. “go away.”

with that dismissal, kira giggled and left to find her brother and tell him about the upcoming shift change. smile returning, derek chuckled and soaked in the joy that flooded the atmosphere. laughter from several members of the pack, jeremy’s excited shrieks as he won another round of mario kart against damaris and daryl ( whose defense was that he’d never played before, jeremy clearly had an unfair advantage, okay ) and some others, t-dog helping groom the horses, nana showing natalie and andrew her recipe for sweet potato pie, and so many other noises derek had never expected to hear at once.

it’d been quite al ong time since he’d been in a lively place for the holiday. and, thinking back on it, his pack hadn’t been quite this big before. but they were filled to the brim now, full of elders and teens and children, witches and kumiho, emissaries, even hunters, his living sisters and cousins and nephew. this was a pack he’d never dreamed of having, but he loved them all so fully, it swallowed him whole and he happily allowed it.

[wildbootsappeared]

Continental Divides Chapter Discussion #0: Humble Origins/Editing and Rewriting

I recently enjoyed hearing Negrek talk about the behind-the-scenes of the most recent chapter of Salvage and was inspired: I figure some of you might be interested in hearing some of that type of thing for Divides, too. CD touches on some pretty complicated subjects (historical events and politics and glazed-over-science) that are worth teasing apart a little more. So I’m going to start slowly adding in some chapter reflection posts! Keep in mind that these will probably be full of spoilers, and you’ll want to get caught up before you read em. 

If you want to hear me talk about something specific, feel free to shoot me a question.

(By the way, if you’re not reading Salvage yet—fam, get on my level. I’d describe it as a black humor odd-couple tale of … friendship??? Hm, that’s definitely not the right word, is it? Anyway! Featuring: an absolute goblin of a pokemorph, dismemberment, corruption, and Very Good Decisions. And lovely prose, by the way.)

With that, let’s get into it!

(CD spoilers below!)

Art by Giulia Bernardelli 

From Humble Origins

I’ve mentioned before that Mark and Natalie were my first original characters. They were side characters in my first ever fic from … god, 2003 or 2004-ish? So in many ways, they’ve grown up with me.

I learned about fanfic shortly after Ruby and Sapphire came out in the US, so of course baby OSJ had to try her hand at a Hoenn journey fic. I’m really sad that I don’t have a copy of the original text anymore because it was hilariously bad. You see, Brendan and May had to run away from home (instead of just … journeying like every other trainer?) because they were IN LOVE (after, like, a day and a half at most) but their parents WOULDN’T LET THEM BE TOGETHER. The story featured dazzling moments of creative genius like … Brendan and May “sneaking” into Rustboro at the wee hour of 10 am, whereupon May ran into a lamp post somehow. 

Later, Mark and Natalie appear to yell at our poor heroes and then at each other. Lots of yelling. In their first inception, Mark and Nat were basically discount Jesse and James but with less dress-up and queer subtext. Mark had a glorious moment of running while dragging his feet (?). Also, during a double battle against Brendan and May, I forgot about his zubat, so it fainted because “it was tired from flying,” despite having no feet and despite taking zero hits during the fight. Then Mark took shelter from the rain under a tree, where Natalie yelled at him some more and decided for both of them that they had to team up “temporarily” to get the red and blue orbs back from those meddling kids or something. I had grand plans for this whole plot where Natalie would kidnap May to get the orbs, but then May would end up in Magma’s hands (like a human hot potato), and Brendan would have to rescue her??? Something, something, Mark and Natalie see the error of their ways and team up to help Brendan and May … do stuff?

Anyway, I never finished it, and that’s definitely for the best.

I did revisit Mark and Natalie a few years later, though, this time for a story of their own called Out of Hand. I didn’t finish that one either, but I do have the original text this time (plus snarky comments and a “review” from me ten years after the fact). I can’t honestly tell you it was … good. Maybe good-for-a-highschooler. But! When I stumbled upon it again in 2018, there was enough in it that almost worked that I started to think about how I’d handle those themes and characters as an adult.

A lot has changed since then, but that 2010 draft of Out of Hand established some of the skeleton of Continental Divides. For example, that was when Archie became Natalie’s brother to help explain how she got involved in Aqua. I decided to keep that structure because it was a good way to let Natalie start as a neutral party/reader proxy and then quickly become embroiled in the conflict. It was also the first time Mark’s sister appeared, though I don’t think I’d decided what to do with her at the time except to use her as decorations in his angsty dreams, haha. His smoking habit also started in 2010. I, too, thought he’d quit “years ago,” in literal real time. Jokes on me—it turned out to be a useful way to signal the start of him losing control, the negative influence of Cora/Magma in his life, his hypocrisy, and his guilty feelings about things he’s burned. Scarlet appeared for the first time in this draft, too. I think I was equal parts trying to humanize Archie and to write my way through feelings about growing apart from/pining for someone. Her backstory took up a disproportionate number of pages in the old draft, but I liked the idea of keeping her around as a figure who could complicate Natalie’s relationship with Aqua and with Archie. The 2010 has  a couple fights between Mark and Natalie that I respect for bringing real danger to the protagonists ... but also can’t help laughing at. They literally fight until they tumble over a waterfall, like a cartoon. Silly as those scenes are, you can also see how they laid a foundation for scenes like the fight in Chapter 9.

CD is basically me responding to Out of Hand with, “I see you and I raise you.” 

2010-OSJ had some vague feelings about inequality and environmentalism, but none of it was very well thought-out. She mostly wanted to tell an enemies-to-lovers story, in part because she thought she was living in one IRL. Nowadays, I’ve got a lot of feelings about climate change, political divisions, activism and responsibility, corporations, policing, and whether or not violence is a good answer to certain kinds of questions. Hoenn is a safe space to explore those feelings. (It’s got pokemon, so it’s inherently more fun, right???) 

Kyogre and Groudon are such obvious parallels to sea level rise/more intense storms and rising temperatures/wildfires respectively that I couldn’t resist. And in Magma/Aqua I see a lot of parallels to political conflicts happening in the US right now. The far left and the far right don’t share a vision of what a “better world” would look like, but they do share a mutual mistrust of “the swamp” and all the ways the government tag-teams with corporations to dunk on ordinary people. I’d love to believe that someday we could team up across the aisle to fight corruption together. It’s certainly hard to imagine how we could get to a better world with one half of the country pitted against each other … Something has got to give eventually, probably not peacefully. 

My versions of Magma and Aqua aren’t exact parallels to the US political left and right—both are pretty left-leaning, for one—but I still find a lot of hope in the idea of two enemies from rival factions learning to (eventually) care for one another and work together towards common goals. At the very least, it’s something I can manifest and control on the page, and that makes me feel better about all the things I can’t control.

Editing and Rewriting

My first attempt at Continental Divides was inarguably an improvement on earlier versions of Mark and Natalie … but it still took quite a bit of rewriting to get to the draft that’s available to read now. The first draft in 2018 opened with what’s now Chapter 3, the protest in Rustboro. I had the right idea with “starting at the beginning,” but starting with an action scene was the wrong move: we didn’t know enough about Natalie to care when she was in trouble or to understand why she was making any of those choices. Moreover, even though the political content is important, this is ultimately still an enemies-to-lovers story: the beginning needed to center Mark and Natalie’s relationship. You know, to establish some interest before it all implodes. The next attempt ran a little long, though, and the current version condenses their initial meeting and Nat’s backstory much better. Maybe the next time I start a new project I’ll have an easier time knowing what makes a good starting point, but this time there was a lot of swinging back and forth to find a balance.

If you’re interested in seeing how my first chapter changed over time, you can see that here.

I’m really happy to have a first chapter I know is a solid representation of the subject matter, tone, and writing level of the later chapters. Getting stuck in an editing loop is a real danger … but if you’re ever going to edit part of your fic, let it be the first chapter. A good first chapter is critical to keeping potential readers onboard. I can tell from feedback that I’ve stuck the landing now.

Hope you enjoyed this not-so-little reflection on the origins of this story!

Some music (Spotify links):

Night of the Long Knives - Everything Everything

MMMMHMMMMM - Four Fists

[polandspringz]

My discord asked about Miraculous Ladybug

A lot of questions about why they can’t recognize each other:

Me: Well, to be fair, Marinette may be the only model in the show with black hair in pigtails, but this is a gigantic city and there are probably tons of girls running around with that hairstyle so- Lab: THIS IS ALTERNATE PARIS, NO ONE ELSE. JUST HER

Me: I think the series will end with everyone revealing that they knew the whole time. Although, Luka might already know she’s Ladybug, just because he’s 15 and- Cora: Only 15 year olds have brain cells. Me: what about her parents- Cora: ONLY 15 YEAR OLDS

General consensus is that Adrien is an absolute idiot- Me: Well he was sheltered for a long time- Everyone: No he’s an idiot

Most of the conversation was this though:

Cora: I’m sorry but why is her chin so pointy Me: Oh that’s not her actual model, let me show you her actual model, it’s fixed there *sends picture of her in the casket*

Cora: wait does hawk moth keep her corpse in the basement Me: yea *screaming*

Someone: hey poland why don’t you have the hots for Gabriel, he’s old and a fashion designer- Me: he’s too goth for me

Me: alright guys I’m going to explain the love square *CHORUS OF GROANS* 

Someone: Gabriel looks like a paintbrush Me: No he looks like Tim Gunn

*me sending bad edits I hate and talking about why i hate them* Cora: Poland this is an anti-cringe culture discord

Lab: can miraculous users fuse Me: yea

Someone: can CN cataclysm someone Me: yeah, we saw Volpina make an illusion of it and he crumbled away infinity war style in front of a sea of children 

Cora: Gabriel killed his wife because her chin was too pointy and it would’ve killed him first

Cora: I think Adrien should commit crime

Cora: Gabriel Agreste should commit a crime, like tax evasion Me: well he’s got that house Lab: yeah he’s a fashion designer he probably already does Me: he killed his wife because she found out about his tax evasion

Cora:  Gabriel Agreste commits tax evasion but when he has to do taxes he commits tax fraud

none of us know anything about taxes

Lab: why is he called hawk moth Me: well in the french version he’s actually called papillon- Lab: WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE FRENCH VERSION FRENCH ISNT REAL *chorus of people yelling about how french is stupid*

I mentioned totally spies, we started arguing over the video games

*every five minutes when im in the middle of talking* Cora: im sorry i cant stop thinking about his wife in the basement

Cora: is it a basement basement or just a basement? Me: its like a garden, a lair. he catches his own butterflies to akumatize people with in there- Lab: he GETS BUTTERFLIES FROM HIS WIFE’S CORPSE

*me sending a picture of luka and captioning it “my son”* Me: SHIT WAIT THATS AN EDIT OF HIM I DIDNT REALIZE I HATE IT NOW

Me: you know, everything gets fixed with the ladybugs, but we’ve seen like real life car crashes in this show. someone probably gets sent to the hospital and is in surgery or dying and then ladybug fixes everything and they’re sent back to their perfectly fixed car with only the memory and unresolved trauma of having their body cut open

i explained the statue episode, then sent the clip of the wax statue scene

Everyone: WHY DID HE WAIT UNTIL THE KISS TO MOVE OH GOD

Cora: Poland if you show me that clip i’ll die, do you want to kill me Poland

*explaining natalie has the hots for hawk moth* Cora: does she know about the corpse in the basement Me: yea *chorus of screams*

*me explaining how Marinette is actually a terrible person and went off on Lila in Volpina* Someone: WHAT THE FUCK HOLY SHIT WHY

Me: so Marinette is lowkey a stalker she stole his phone multiple times and has his whole schedule mapped out Lab: she’s a serial killer

*chorus of screams and groans in response to the statue scene*

Someone: WHY DID SHE SNIFF HIM

Cora: im sorry i can’t stop thinking about his dead wife in the BASEMENT

[acuppellarp]

♬ Full Name: Cordelia Rhiannon Anderson ♪  FC: Natalie Dormer ♫ Alternate FCs: ♪ Age/Birthday: 29 / January 5, 1990 ♫ Occupation: Actress ♪ Hometown: Greenwich, CT ♫ Personality: charming, charismatic, driven, ambitious, judgmental, proud, superficially outgoing but hermetic with her feelings

The person that’s influenced Cora’s life the most is, undoubtedly, her mother. Which is remarkable considering she was only alive for the first three years of Cora’s life, and her daughter doesn’t really remember anything about her. But Morgan Anderson (Lady Morgan, technically) was Richard Anderson’s first love, and she was gone before she could do anything to tarnish his idealized image of her.

Carrying the legacy of a perfect woman is not exactly an easy task, but Cora had the good fortune to be mostly perfect just by virtue of winning the genetic lottery. She had her mother’s light blond hair and porcelain skin, and her father’s striking blue eyes. She was bright and outgoing, effortlessly charming, and - thanks to her father’s firm hand - perfectly polite even at only five years old. Which may have been the reason why her father’s second wife immediately fell in love with her and treated her like her own.

Her childhood was busy in a very structured way. She had classes at an exclusive and challenging private school, and a wide variety of extra-curriculars that for some reason she never got to choose. But the more Cora grew, the more she looked like a blue-eyed version of Morgan. So why wouldn’t she want to do exactly the same things her mother had loved?

Cora learned ballet and drama. She played polo and practiced fencing. She played the piano and tried not to fidget in her seat when her father took her to special father-daughter outings to listen to symphonic orchestras and watch famous ballet companies from all over the world. She always wondered why he didn’t take Blair instead. Blair loved music. But her father was never that concerned with Blair’s interests.

When she was fifteen, Cora traveled to Wales to spend the summer with her mother’s family, and learned there was a whole new set of expectations to fulfill on the other side of the pond. She didn’t just have to be perfect like her mother: she had to have the background to belong in the same circles Morgan used to thrive in.

At Benenden School, Cora quickly realized being at the top of the food pyramid in Connecticut meant next to nothing among the daughters and granddaughters of British peers and centuries-old family fortunes. Cora’s accent was wrong. Her posture was wrong. The way she carried herself, the people she knew and didn’t know, her father’s job, the things she’d worked so hard to learn at school - it was all wrong.

But Cordelia Anderson had been trained to be perfect. And that was exactly what she was going to be.

When Christmas break rolled around, she refused to go home to Connecticut. She went to her grandparents’ manor in Wales, sat her grandmother down, and asked her to teach her. Through the years, she’d learned to be malleable - to become whatever her father expected her to be - and now she wanted Lady Rhiannon to undo everything Cora had been molded to be, and start over from scratch.

By the start of the Spring Term, not even the teachers could tell she’d ever set foot in America. And now that she’d climbed up to the same level as the rest of the girls, all she had to do was charm her way to the top.

She finished school at 18, with her social calendar full to the brim with high society events, every academic achievement she could get her hands on, and an enthusiastic acceptance from Cambridge where she planned to study History.

A call home was all it took to inform her she would be doing no such thing. She had an audition with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where she would be studying drama - just like Morgan before her. Maybe her father would’ve let her go into History instead if she’d told him that was what she wanted, but he never asked, and she knew better than to tell.

Cora was a natural on stage, which she blamed on a lifetime of embodying the role of her father’s dream daughter. She soon became the most promising new talent in London’s theatrical circuit, and she was even invited to perform with a select few at one of the most important galas in the city. Everyone who was somebody was therem and among them, there was Leopold. Lord Leopold, technically. She didn’t feel much of anything towards him - good or bad - but her father liked him. He had contacts, Richard said, not only a title. He wanted Leopold for her.

Cora had been acting since she was three years old, and she’d read enough about love to know what a woman in love should feel. And even if she didn’t feel it herself, she acted like she did. Leopold, she figured, was pleasant enough. He was head over heels in love with her, and - as he constantly repeated - the only reason he hadn’t proposed yet was that she had to finish college first. And then law school. And then, of course, settle into her rightful place in politics next to his father. Cora was more than happy to wait.

While her boyfriend built the foundation of their future life together, as he liked to put it, Cora graduated from RADA and made her way to the big leagues at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. And for the first time, she thought she could really feel all those things women in love were supposed to feel. The butterflies, the heart skipping beats… she was in love with London and its stages, and London fell in love with her.

With several Olivier awards on her shelf and an undisputed seat among the West End’s current royalty, Broadway has set its sights on her. And though she’s declined several offers out of loyalty to the city that owns her heart, she’s now been offered the lead on the upcoming all-female version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and she couldn’t say no.

Pets: None. She owns a couple of horses who live at her grandparents’ estate, but they’re not exactly pets. She’d love to have an Old English Sheepdog if she ever puts down roots somewhere.  

♬ Blair Anderson

Younger sister. They’re not close because Cora’s been in the UK since Blair was 9, but there’s no animosity on Cora’s part. Her sister is just virtually a stranger (though she’s definitely heard a lot about her from their father) so Cora doesn’t find relating to her particularly easy.

♪  Bea Smith

They did a show together at the Shakespeare Theatre Company a few years back, and they’ve stayed in touch. Though Bea had a bit of a straight girl crush on Cora, Cora was completely oblivious. If she’d known she’d have been very flattered but not really surprised.

♬ Jessi St. James

When Jessi was in London for her semester abroad in college, her class had a workshop experience with the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Cora was one of the professional actors who ran the lessons. They’ve stayed in touch through the years, and Cora is excited to see what’s been going on with Jess.

♪  Serena Smythe

They went to the same prep school in Connecticut when they were kids. Their fathers are acquainted and they were friends, though it was never a very close friendship. Though they wouldn’t exactly call each other ‘friend’ in the strict sense of the word, they’ve both been trained to know you never lose a contact that may come in handy later, so they’ve kept a friendly relationship going.

[ethanalter]

Karyn Kusama on Her Past Frights of Studio Filmmaking, and the Joys of Independent Horror for a Director

Christina Kirk in ‘Her Only Living Son,’ director Karyn Kusama’s segment of horror anthology ‘XX’ (Photo: Everett)

Here’s how much Karyn Kusama adores the 1968 horror classic, Rosemary’s Baby: Even if a major studio gave her carte blanche (and final cut) to remake the chilling Roman Polanski-directed original about a woman (Mia Farrow) who discovers she’s carrying the devil’s spawn, she’d have to turn the offer down. “I can’t go there,” the writer/director tells Yahoo Movies. “Remakes of films I love are a thing for me; it feels like too much responsibility.”

While remakes might not be her style, Kusama — who launched her career with the 2000 boxing drama Girlfight — isn’t shy about wearing her influences on her sleeve. Certainly, her 2016 thriller, The Invitation (one of Yahoo Movies’ picks for the 10 Best Horror Movies of 2016), channeled vintage Polanski in its atmosphere of slow-burning tension. Meanwhile, “Her Only Living Son,” Kusama’s contribution to the recently released horror omnibus XX, is a direct homage to Rosemary’s Baby. (XX is currently available to rent on Amazon and other VOD services, and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 23.)

Related: ‘Get Out’ Fact-Check: How Accurate Are the Hypnosis Scenes? (Spoilers!)

“Her Only Living Son” involves a single mother, Cora (Christina Kirk), whose son, Andy (Kyle Allen), is on the cusp of his 18th birthday, a milestone age in more ways than one. See, 18 years ago, Cora’s absent husband offered his wife as a vessel to carry Satan’s son in exchange for Hollywood superstardom — the same deal that Rosemary’s actor husband, Guy (played in the 1968 film by John Cassavetes), accepted in Polanski’s film. And now that the boy is of age, his real father has big plans for his future. First, though, Satan’s gotta go through Cora, and he’s about to discover that a mother’s love is just as powerful as the devil’s evil.

Writer/director Karyn Kusama at the ‘XX’ L.A. premiere (Photo: Todd Williamson/Getty Images)

“Her Only Living Son” is the fourth of the four scary short films in XX, all directed by female filmmakers, including Jovanka Vuckovic (“The Box), Annie Clark (also known to music fans as St. Vincent; “The Birthday Party”), and Roxanne Benjamin (“Don’t Fall”). Although the individual films do not share characters or storylines, three of the four are united by a common theme: the horrors of motherhood. “The Box,” for example, revolves about a suburban mom (Natalie Brown) who dispassionately watches her family starve themselves to death, while “The Birthday Party” casts Melanie Lynskey as a housewife forced to hide her husband’s dead body on the morning of their daughter’s birthday festivities. “I’ve been trying to understand why that might have happened,” Kusama says of the maternal element that unites XX‘s disparate shorts, one that she says wasn’t planned in advance. “It’s unusual and makes this experiment interesting as a way to see other [women’s] visions of the world.”

Christina Kirk and Kyle Allen in ‘Her Only Living Son,’ the concluding short film in ‘XX’ (Photo: Everett)

Beyond mommy issues, Kusama uses “Her Only Living Son,” to explore what she calls the “domestic violence parable” embedded in Rosemary’s Baby. “I was interested in the notion that the story’s primary evil starts in human form, with this ambitious man who is willing to sacrifice the woman he claims to love for fame,” Kusama explains. “I’ve always wondered what could have happened to Rosemary if she had gotten some help, and I wanted to explore a kind of alternate future for that character in which she gets the opportunity both to assert her independence, but also face the realities of having a really troubled kid.”

The idea of a woman’s freedom being sacrificed for a man’s profit was also at the center of Kusama’s 2009 film, Jennifer’s Body, written by Oscar-winning Juno screenwriter, Diablo Cody. Where “Her Only Living Son,” plays the premise straight, Jennifer’s Body attempted to blend horror and comedy, which didn’t prove to be a winning recipe at the box office. In a lengthy 2016 interview with Buzzfeed, Kusama discussed how the eccentricities of Jennifer’s Body — which have since helped make it a cult favorite — initially defeated the marketing team at 20th Century Fox. “They were so uncertain about really embracing the reality of the movie, which is that it was made by women and about women, and that the ultimate goal was to make a movie for girls,” she said at the time.

Related: MVPs of Horror: Adrienne Barbeau on ‘The Fog,’ ‘Creepshow,’ ‘Swamp Thing,’ ‘Escape from New York

The Jennifer’s Body experience came directly on the heels of Kusama enduring another famously troubled female-led mega-production, 2005’s Aeon Flux, and led her to step away from the studio world, where female filmmakers consistently confront more limited career options than their male counterparts. And even as directors like Patty Jenkins and Ava DuVernay are blazing new trails with blockbusters-in-waiting like Wonder Woman and A Wrinkle in Time, Kusama says she feels no immediate desire to helm, say, the next Fast and the Furious movie, even if it does have Girlfight star, Michelle Rodriguez firmly ensconced in Dom Toretto’s extended family. “Those movies have gotten so gigantic, that it’s honestly hard to imagine me doing that,” she says, laughing. “But more power to the people who created a franchise that shows that all kinds of people watch [blockbuster] movies — not just white male teenagers.”

Michelle Rodriguez in Kusama’s debut feature, ‘Girlfight’ (Photo: Everett)

“I’d love to find something between The Invitation and Wonder Woman budgets,” Kusama continues. “Much as I can really love big splashy studio films, I’ve experienced the baptismal fire of making them, and I don’t wish to replicate those experiences anytime soon. I leave it to other women to lead the charge for what I hope will be more opportunities in that field.”

Horror movies, on the other hand, are a field in which women are demonstrably finding increased opportunities…albeit often on their own dime. The low-budget XX joins a wave of handmade, female-helmed horror movies that includes recent success stories such as The Babadook and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Kusama herself reportedly will be staying in the genre for her next movie, Breed, which is the kind of elusive mid-range studio project she’s been hoping to find. (The film is set to be released by 20th Century Fox, giving them a potential opportunity to correct their mistakes with Jennifer’s Body.) “There’s a lot of interesting stuff happening by women in horror right now, and a lot of it seems to be more self-generated than going through the normal channels of studios and agencies. For right now anyway, I’m just looking to avoid films that are so big, it feels like they need to be managed by armies, not just made by them.”

‘XX’: Watch a trailer for female directors’ horror anthology:

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Welcome (again) to A Cup-pella, Wen! We’re excited to have you and Cora Anderson in the game! Please go through the checklist to make sure you’re ready to go and send in your account within the next 24 hours. 

OOC INFO

Name + pronouns: Wen + she/her Age: younger than some buildings Timezone: GMT+1 Ships: Cora/Bottoms, Cora/Happiness, Cora/The world outside the closet Anti-Ships: Cora/Forced

IC INFO

Full Name: Cordelia Rhiannon Anderson Face Claim: Natalie Dormer Age/Birthday: 29 / January 5, 1990 Occupation: Actress Personality: charming, charismatic, driven, ambitious, judgmental, proud, superficially outgoing but hermetic with her feelings. Hometown: Greenwich, CT Bio: The person that’s influenced Cora’s life the most is, undoubtedly, her mother. Which is remarkable considering she was only alive for the first three years of Cora’s life, and her daughter doesn’t really remember anything about her. But Morgan Anderson (Lady Morgan, technically) was Richard Anderson’s first love, and she was gone before she could do anything to tarnish his idealized image of her.

Carrying the legacy of a perfect woman is not exactly an easy task, but Cora had the good fortune to be mostly perfect just by virtue of winning the genetic lottery. She had her mother’s light blond hair and porcelain skin, and her father’s striking blue eyes. She was bright and outgoing, effortlessly charming, and - thanks to her father’s firm hand - perfectly polite even at only five years old. Which may have been the reason why her father’s second wife immediately fell in love with her and treated her like her own.

Her childhood was busy in a very structured way. She had classes at an exclusive and challenging private school, and a wide variety of extra-curriculars that for some reason she never got to choose. But the more Cora grew, the more she looked like a blue-eyed version of Morgan. So why wouldn’t she want to do exactly the same things her mother had loved?

Cora learned ballet and drama. She played polo and practiced fencing. She played the piano and tried not to fidget in her seat when her father took her to special father-daughter outings to listen to symphonic orchestras and watch famous ballet companies from all over the world. She always wondered why he didn’t take Blair instead. Blair loved music. But her father was never that concerned with Blair’s interests.

When she was fifteen, Cora traveled to Wales to spend the summer with her mother’s family, and learned there was a whole new set of expectations to fulfill on the other side of the pond. She didn’t just have to be perfect like her mother: she had to have the background to belong in the same circles Morgan used to thrive in.

At Benenden School, Cora quickly realized being at the top of the food pyramid in Connecticut meant next to nothing among the daughters and granddaughters of British peers and centuries-old family fortunes. Cora’s accent was wrong. Her posture was wrong. The way she carried herself, the people she knew and didn’t know, her father’s job, the things she’d worked so hard to learn at school - it was all wrong.

But Cordelia Anderson had been trained to be perfect. And that was exactly what she was going to be.

When Christmas break rolled around, she refused to go home to Connecticut. She went to her grandparents’ manor in Wales, sat her grandmother down, and asked her to teach her. Through the years, she’d learned to be malleable - to become whatever her father expected her to be - and now she wanted Lady Rhiannon to undo everything Cora had been molded to be, and start over from scratch.

By the start of the Spring Term, not even the teachers could tell she’d ever set foot in America. And now that she’d climbed up to the same level as the rest of the girls, all she had to do was charm her way to the top.

She finished school at 18, with her social calendar full to the brim with high society events, every academic achievement she could get her hands on, and an enthusiastic acceptance from Cambridge where she planned to study History. 

A call home was all it took to inform her she would be doing no such thing. She had an audition with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where she would be studying drama - just like Morgan before her. Maybe her father would’ve let her go into History instead if she’d told him that was what she wanted, but he never asked, and she knew better than to tell.

Cora was a natural on stage, which she blamed on a lifetime of embodying the role of her father’s dream daughter. She soon became the most promising new talent in London’s theatrical circuit, and she was even invited to perform with a select few at one of the most important galas in the city. Everyone who was somebody was therem and among them, there was Leopold. Lord Leopold, technically. She didn’t feel much of anything towards him - good or bad - but her father liked him. He had contacts, Richard said, not only a title. He wanted Leopold for her.

Cora had been acting since she was three years old, and she’d read enough about love to know what a woman in love should feel. And even if she didn’t feel it herself, she acted like she did. Leopold, she figured, was pleasant enough. He was head over heels in love with her, and - as he constantly repeated - the only reason he hadn’t proposed yet was that she had to finish college first. And then law school. And then, of course, settle into her rightful place in politics next to his father. Cora was more than happy to wait.

While her boyfriend built the foundation of their future life together, as he liked to put it, Cora graduated from RADA and made her way to the big leagues at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. And for the first time, she thought she could really feel all those things women in love were supposed to feel. The butterflies, the heart skipping beats… she was in love with London and its stages, and London fell in love with her.

With several Olivier awards on her shelf and an undisputed seat among the West End’s current royalty, Broadway has set its sights on her. And though she’s declined several offers out of loyalty to the city that owns her heart, she’s now been offered the lead on the upcoming all-female version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and she couldn’t say no.

Pets: None. She owns a couple of horses who live at her grandparents’ estate, but they’re not exactly pets. She’d love to have an Old English Sheepdog if she ever puts down roots somewhere.   Relationships:

Blair Anderson: Younger sister. They’re not close because Cora’s been in the UK since Blair was 9, but there’s no animosity on Cora’s part. Her sister is just virtually a stranger (though she’s definitely heard a lot about her from their father) so Cora doesn’t find relating to her particularly easy.

Bea Smith: They did a show together at the Shakespeare Theatre Company a few years back, and they’ve stayed in touch. Though Bea had a bit of a straight girl crush on Cora, Cora was completely oblivious. If she’d known she’d have been very flattered but not really surprised.

Jessi St. James: When Jessi was in London for her semester abroad in college, her class had a workshop experience with the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Cora was one of the professional actors who ran the lessons. They’ve stayed in touch through the years, and Cora is excited to see what’s been going on with Jess.

Serena Smythe: They went to the same prep school in Connecticut when they were kids. Their fathers are acquainted and they were friends, though it was never a very close friendship. Though they wouldn’t exactly call each other ‘friend’ in the strict sense of the word, they’ve both been trained to know you never lose a contact that may come in handy later, so they’ve kept a friendly relationship going.

EXTRA INFO

Twitter name/twitter URL/description: Cordelia Anderson | @cordeliaranderson | Actress. Currently in NYC, but my heart is still in London. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

Five latest tweets:

@cordeliaranderson If I don’t tweet in the next 15 minutes, assume I looked the wrong way to cross the street and was run over by a cab. @cordeliaranderson #faq Friday: not related to @gillianA, but I’d be happy to sign those adoption papers #makeithappen @cordeliaranderson Went to TKTS Times Square thinking it’d be like the one at Leicester Square, was nearly trampled by the crowd #liveandlearn @cordeliaranderson First reading for investors! Ever seen a one-woman reading of Midsummer Night’s dream? #trailblazer @cordeliaranderson  Mark my words: if there is ever another US/UK war, it shall be over the biscuit controversy.