#the idea of them meeting while kat was still adapting to her life without her family's support

[noxianwilled]

what if drann did leave the black rose. what if she, not unlike cassiopeia, was inducted by a mother or other family members that were hemomancers. what if something did happen to make her reconsider and she ran away (and the two of them, without anyone else who'dlook after them, banded together as a result? what if kat helped keep her safe only to later learn drann was plenty dangerous on her own too?).

what if she didn't, and was supposed to spy on kat, but ended up genuinely changing her mind. what if eventually she did betray the black rose and left the hemomancers. what if it was in no small part due to her bond with katsrina.

[niki-writes-stuff]

Liist of my wip's! (August 2019)

Hello there! I'm Nicola! I mainly write contemporary YA stuff (mostly read that, too!), that feature all of the lgbt rep I'd like to see but don't :)

The following is a list of my current wip's, along with a quick summary of what they're about! If anything here interests you please don't hesitate to ask about it! I love talking about anything from characters to plot and it helps me build ideas when I'm talking to someone else :)

The History of Great Thing That Have Happened to Great People: Taylor, convinced of his extremely bad luck, isn't expecting to catch the eye of Patrick, who's extremely out of Taylor's league in every way that counts. Taylor is convinced their whirlwind summer romance will be regulated to just that: the summer, because with their insanely different lifestyles, coupled with living on opposite ends of the country, and Patrick's slightly obsessed ex, theirs no way they could make it work long term, right? Right?

One More Minute: Kat signs up for a competition that wins her an hour long skype date with her celebrity crush, Harley. Kat can hardly believe it- clearly this is a sign they were meant to be together. Battling demons of her own while being forced to maintain her public image all at the age of 19, Harley is infatuated with Kat from the first minute they spend talking, but she's reluctant to drag the starry eyed, optimistic girl into her world.

For The Throne: The unprecedented assassination of her brother, Jude, just days before his wedding, leaves Genevieve in the position she never envied him: Atop the most powerful and coveted throne in the world. As her relationship with American journalist Eva Letman comes to light, Genevieve faces opposition from both outside and within the palace, forcing her to question her place as a Monarch and her ability to rule. Jude's widowed wife, Sarah, carrying his alleged unborn son, is the power hungry daughter of the Prime Minister, and she's determined to regain her position in the palace, whatever it takes. As the investigation into Jude's death goes underway, and England is sent into a disarray over Genevieve's reign, old and new secrets begin to reveal themselves, threatening to bring down the entire Monarcy down with them.

Title TBD: Hedley knows vampires exist: they have to. She's spent her entire life learning everything she can about them, and in the depths of her research she found solace from her life in a children's home. As she turns 18 and the system prepares to spit her out onto the streets, Hedley goes to the only place she's ever felt at peace: Hartman's Hallow, rumored to be home to the last existing vampire coven in North America.

Title TBD: Skye Nolan has a plan. He's counting down the days until he can start HRT, while trying to survive living with his father and soon to be step-mom after his mother's career takes her to New Zealand. It probably wouldn't have been so difficult, except he also has to handle having a crush on his long time friend, Caden Montgomery, who Skye isn't willing to risk losing over anything. Skye is convinced that a relationship with Caden is completely out of the question- until suddenly, it's not. Caden returns from music camp with the news that he's broken up with his boyfriend, and his sudden availability pushes him and Skye to testing the boundaries of their frriendship.

Who We Were: Noah Hapstall's plans to enjoy his freshman year of university take a sharp turn for the worst when his ex girlfriend reappears in his life after being gone for over a year. Melanie had previously been nothing more than the embodiment of everything Noah despised, the wounds she left cut deep and not even his current seemingly iddylic relationship could heal them. He swore he would never let her back in, but his parents' divorce and the increasing distance between him and his boyfriend, who's currently studying in another state, leaves him vulnerable to Melanie and her typical manipulation. As Noah unwittingly becomes more involved in her life, he is forced to remove his rose tinted glasses and examine the world as it really is, for all the lies, secrets, and pain it holds.

Who We Want To Be: Sylvie Montgomery has had enough of living in the shadow of her celebrity father, her perfect twin brother, her genius best friend and even prodigy violinist younger sister. She doesn't know who she is without the people around her always overshadowing her, and so she jumps at the opportunity to find out when she's offered an internship far away from home: in the city of love, Paris.

Where We Began: Tessa had her heart broken when her girlfriend of two years broke things off out of the blue. But now Hanna's back, begging for a second chance, and Tessa is unbelievably close to giving in. She never really got over Hanna, and maybe they can make things work again, if only they could get over all the baggage their history brings with it.

Rules of The Road: Five best friends go on a cross country road trip the summer before departing for college. They must navigate the rules of road while discovering things about themselves, and each other, that will either tear them apart for good or make them stronger than ever.

Rules of The Game: High strung student body president Sophie ends up tutoring Oren Black, the school's laid back, fun loving quarterback.

Rules of the Heart: After coming out as gay, Alexa goes to live with her father in Oregon and ends up falling for Harley, who recently got out of an abusive relationship.

Title TBD: Broadway actress Olivia (Liz) Chandler meets Tomi Reign, the socialite daughter of Liz's new director. Sparks fly immediately, and supposed-to-be straight Liz can't deny that she has feelings for Tomi. Tomi herself is intrigued by Liz, who's cheeky and flirty personality is far from Tomi's usual type. But her usual type.... usually leaves her heartbroken and alone. She's more than happy to play along and be Liz's pet project as she explores her sexuality. It's not like she has anything better to do. Except things take a turn when real feelings begin to get involved, and neither of them really knows how to react to it.

All We Have (8 part series): Follows the life of childhood best friends, Aaliyah, Nicky, and Ryan, as they navigate their tumultuous familial, platonic and romantic relationships. Spans over the course of several years, from their early teens to their late 20's.

The Other Life: Penelope Carmichael has lived in the shadow of her best friend Kris Johnson for as long as she can remember. Kris is popular, beautiful, and perfect, and while Penn tries to be happy for Kris' success', she finds it difficult to shake her jealousy. On the eve of their 17th birthday, Penn and Kris get into a car accident, and Penn wakes up several weeks later to find herself in Kris' body, and her own nowhere to be found. As months go by and Penn remains trapped, with the real Kris seemingly gone forever, she slowly allows herself to adapt the life of the girl she always envied. However, Penn quickly begins to realize that Kris' reality may have been far off from the one everyone believed her to have, and that underneath her facade of perfection lies the haunting and tragic truth of a girl Penn realizes she never really knew.

UnSavior (stand-in title): 5 years after saving her world from imminent doom at the age of 16, Lina packs up and transports herself to another dimension: Earth, with the sole purpose of having a normal life where she isn't regarded as a Hero. However, her arrival to Earth has consequences. Lina doesn't realize that her absence from Ethera sparks an uprising amongst the warring nation of Xaida, who lost the Battle 5 years ago. Furious at the way they've been treated since and determined to avenge their fallen, those left of Xaida want to secure a better future for themselves, and they see Lina's absence as their opportunity. As Lina becomes more and more infatuated with her new life on Earth, caught up in the new experiences and friends it brings, a full out war is on the brink of breaking out in Ethera, and her old mentor Azi attempts to seek her out to draw her home to stop it before it has a chance to begin. But Lina has other plans; she still hasn't fully recovered from the scars the Battle left her with, and she doesn't want to leave Earth and the sanctuary she found there. As a revolution stirs up in Ethera, Lina must question everything: her identity, her loyalty to her nation, and the very people who made her who she is.

Title TBD: 4 college students recieve a series of mysterious emails from an anonymous sender, instructing them to commit several atrocious acts over the course of one night (12 hours) or risk having their secrets, each more damning than the last, revealed to the world.

[misssophiachase]

One Summer, three best friends, a fortune teller and a mysterious new arrival in town.

I Can See Clearly Now

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way.”

June 19 - Virginia

Looking back, Caroline blamed her unexpected discovery on boredom that summer. The temperature had hit a stifling 103 degrees mainly due to low cloud cover containing the heat and the girls piled into the car headed for the cool sanctuary of the movie theatre to catch the latest Nicholas Sparks adaption. 

Well, that’s what Bonnie and Caroline wanted to see. Katherine on the other hand preferred a lot less mush, as she liked to put it, and a lot more violence. Knowing her dogged determination, Caroline knew this was going to be a difficult argument to win.

They’d been best friends since they were six. Class bully Jimmy Johnson had been teasing Bonnie mercilessly and one day went too far, earning himself a smack from both Caroline and Katherine. The girls still maintained that their ‘time out’ punishment was more than worth it to see him return to school with two very attractive, black eyes. After that he’d never messed with Bonnie again.

Now here they were about to embark on their Senior Year of High School. All Caroline had ever wanted was to leave Mystic Falls but even now she was beginning to feel nostalgic for the only place she’d ever called home. Not to mention her best friends. They’d chosen not to discuss their plans for the following year, too scared to contemplate separating.

“Um, last time I checked the cinema is in that direction, Katherine,” Bonnie gestured behind them.

“Who needs GPS when I have Bonnie Bennett barking directions at me from the backseat.”

“Well, she does have a point, Kat,” Caroline chimed into the conversation. “Surely the prospect of Nicholas Sparks isn’t bad enough to make you drive in the complete opposite direction.”

“Ah yeah he is, that Notebook movie you guys made me watch has scarred me for life.”

“It’s okay, we promised not to tell anyone you cried,” Bonnie mused.

“There was something in my eye, I told you that,” she shot back. “Anyway, I just thought we could do something a little different today. You know given it will be our last high school summer and all.” The dread lingered between them for a while, each girl feeling the overwhelming sadness that came with that very fact.

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Bonnie murmured, finally breaking the silence.

“You’ll love it, trust me.”

“The last time she said that I ended up dancing on the bar at the Mystic Grill in a tequila fuelled haze,” Caroline recalled.

“And look how much fun you had. Well, you know after the hangover subsided.”

“And the subsequent grounding from the Sheriff. Katherine, she was this close to pressing charges against her own daughter for public drunkenness.”

“Yeah those were good times,” Caroline drawled, raising her eyebrows. “Please tell me this little surprise doesn’t involve illegal activity of any kind?”

“You two really are boring,” she muttered, checking out her appearance in the rearview mirror. “But no this isn’t illegal, well not that I know of anyway. If I’m being honest, I’m not completely across the laws in Maryland.” The girls were rendered speechless just as the 'Thank you for visiting Mystic Falls’ sign rushed past their windows.

3 and half hours later - Maryland

“You brought us all the way to Maryland for this?” Caroline scoffed, throwing open the car door and stepping out before slamming it shut with a bang. “Some fortune teller called Madame Ophelia? I mean as if that’s even her real name.”

“More like Madame needs a new marketing image,” Bonnie murmured, taking in the run down, brick house with the makeshift wooden sign outside that looked as if it was going to topple over at any moment.

“Mock all you like but Madame Ophelia is considered one of the best mediums in North America. According to Psychic Weekly her predictions have proven to be eerily correct time and time again. Her services are highly sought after but I managed to get us appointments. You can thank me later, ladies.”

“Well, you’d think with all that talent she could afford to fix that rickety, front path and tame that unruly wilderness over there that kind of resembles a garden.”

“Come on, live a little,” Katherine pleaded, making her way up the path.

“I am not going in there,” Bonnie baulked. “I’d rather not live out a real life rendition of Hansel and Gretel.”

“Yeah especially without the enticing gingerbread house for added inducement,” Caroline joked just as a loud crack of thunder sounded out and fat drops of water began to fall from the sky. Usually the rain would provide some relief but given the temperature was still so high it only made the conditions more humid. “Just great.”

“If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is, Katherine,” Bonnie squealed, just as the rain began to fall in sheets. “Let’s just get the hell out of here.”

“You can but I’m going in and last time I checked I was the one holding the keys to the locked car, so it’s your choice to either get extremely soaked or come with me,” she teased, dangling the keys in front of them teasingly. Bonnie and Caroline regarded each other seriously knowing they didn’t have much choice and followed her inside out of the pouring rain.

“You like to be in control,” Madame Ophelia said to Caroline a half hour later.

It was more like a statement than a question and Caroline was entirely too dubious to properly reply. The inside of her house had been just as run down as the outside and there seemed to be a severe shortage of lighting except for the unmistakable glow emanating from her crystal ball as she peered at Caroline. Her dark grey hair was piled on top of her head in a bun, a coloured scarf wrapped over the top.

“I didn’t think crystal balls were real,” she scoffed, by way of response. “Much like this whole facade you’ve created here.”

“They aren’t, same as this ridiculous outfit. I just use these elements to add a little bit of theatre, people apparently like that sort of thing. I’m guessing you’re not one of them.”

“No offence but I just don’t believe in this whole thing.”

“I’m getting that vibe from you.” Her heavy set wrinkles even more so pronounced as she said it. “Katherine is very much a believer although I’m not entirely sure she agreed with my assessment of her future.”

“Don’t take it personally, she’s high maintenance,” Caroline snorted.

“Bonnie is very closed off although I think that had more to do with the fact she was so scared.”

“Well, you might want to look at improving your customer service then. Redecorating this place might be a good start, Madame Ophelia. You know, if that’s your real name.”

“It’s Gertrude but I didn’t think it had the same ring to it,” she smirked, playfully. “You could never be frightened, Caroline,” she smiled, knowingly. “In fact, your inner energy is extremely powerful. You’re very different to your friends.”

“Different how?” Now Madame Ophelia had her attention.

“You know what you want and aren’t afraid to follow your dreams,” she added. “I have no doubt you will be a successful journalist, in fact Brown University will be very lucky to have you in their class next year.”

She felt the breath hitch in her throat. Her lifelong dream had been journalism and Brown was at the top of the list. How did she know that? Maybe this psychic thing wasn’t so bad, as long as she was telling the truth of course. Before Caroline could ask about future job possibilities she continued. “But that’s not the most pressing future event I can see.”

“Excuse me?” What could be more important than her future career?

“I can see him.”

“Him?” She squeaked. Was she referring to a possible love interest? Caroline had always placed romance at the very bottom of her cluttered list of life goals.

“He’s foreign. Dark, blonde curls, blue eyes and lips the colour of deep crimson.” Caroline couldn’t respond mainly because she didn’t know what to say or what this all meant. “You’ve both been looking for each other without really knowing it.”

“Who is he?”

“Your soulmate.”

“I don’t believe in soulmates,” she uttered.

“You will,” she smiled, knowingly. “Now, I believe our time is up.”

“But,” before she could argue further, Madame Ophelia was gone. Caroline wasn’t sure whether it was an optical illusion she’d employed to add to the theatrics or whether she’d been wrong about her. The skeptic in her wanted to believe the former but something was telling Caroline not to discount her abilities.

Three hours later - Maryland/Virginia border

“Obviously Madame Ophelia knows nothing about me,” Katherine ranted. Caroline rolled her eyes from the backseat wondering when she was going to finally stop whining. This thing was her whole idea in the first place after all. “And when the hell is this damn rain going to stop!” The summer storm had been relenting and the water was beating heavily against the windshield as the sun was beginning to set lazily on the horizon.

“She said you were highly ambitious and were going to be an extremely successful Harvard trained lawyer. I’d say she knows you pretty well,” Bonnie offered.

“Harvard has been your dream ever since I’ve known you, Kat,” Caroline added, trying to ignore Madame Ophelia’s prediction about her mystery soulmate. She figured no one could get everything right. Brown was what she wanted not some unnamed blonde.

“That I can handle,” she growled, looking into the mirror at her friend briefly. “But she obviously doesn’t know my taste in men. Apparently I’m going to meet some serious, thoughtful and protective brunette who is going to change my perception of things.”

“How is that a bad thing?”

“Well Bonnie, serious isn’t really my type. You realise serious is just another word for boring, right?”

“Last time I checked it isn’t,” Caroline shot back.

“Only you would have memorised the thesaurus,” she groaned. “Whatever the case, Katherine Pierce is not interested in someone like that.”

“Woah, she’s referring to herself in the third person, this must be serious,” Bonnie joked from the passenger seat. “Oh sorry, pardon the pun.”

“It’s so easy to joke when you find out that not only architecture at Stanford is a sure thing but so too a cheeky, brunette that challenges everything you’ve ever believed. Maybe we should swap future, mystery men?”

“I don’t think our destinies are interchangeable.”

“Come on you guys,” Caroline interrupted. “Do you really believe in all of this stuff?”

“And what exactly was your reading, Care?” Katherine asked, slowing down as they entered the main street of one of the smaller towns on their route. “You’ve been reluctant to share so far.”

“It’s not important,” she murmured, eyes downcast all of a sudden. For some reason she’d been too afraid to relay the details given it would make it all the more real and Caroline wasn’t ready to entertain some guy who may or may not be her soulmate.

“Oh come on, that’s not fair,” Katherine argued, turning around briefly to send her a dirty look.

“Katherine, look out!” Bonnie cried, just as her car ran straight into the back of a black SUV. The jolt from the impact was immediate and Caroline felt herself repelled forward into the back of the driver’s seat.

“Ouch,” she moaned, finally coming to from the initial shock. “This is why I don’t like driving with you, Pierce.” The girls emerged from the car slowly to inspect the damage. Funnily enough the rain had all but stopped as they did. 

“It’s not my fault that driver was going like ten miles an hour which is like thirty-five below the speed limit in this area,” Katherine growled, rubbing her forehead. “I bet snails could drive faster than this grandpa.”

“Grandpa?” A stern voice exclaimed. “Not only do you run into me but you have the audacity to insult me too?" 

Although shaken, Caroline had to admit the stranger was extremely good looking with his English accent and in that fitted, dark suit. She was slightly relieved he was a brunette given Madame Ophelia’s earlier prediction about her supposed, blonde foreigner.

"Well,” she began. Bonnie and Caroline knew she was about to erupt in true Katherine Pierce fashion if they didn’t intervene and given the accident was clearly her fault they didn’t want to exacerbate the situation any further.

“How about we all talk about this calmly,” Bonnie interrupted, before jumping in fright. Another attractive brunette had approached flashing a cheeky smile in their direction.

“Grandpa is extremely appropriate, trust me,” he smirked, raising his eyebrows at Bonnie. “I have to drive with the guy.”

“Really, Kol?” He drawled. “Your immaturity never fails to amaze me. Could you maybe wait in the car while I organise the insurance details?”

“I was bored,” he pouted. “Anyone like to get a drink? I know this town is tiny but I’m sure we could find a beer somewhere.”

“There’s been an accident little brother,” another accented voice chimed into the conversation. “This isn’t an excuse to blatantly and desperately pick up women.”

Caroline’s blue eyes immediately flickered to its source. 

Dark, blonde curls, blue eyes and deep crimson lips curved into a knowing grin. Madame Ophelia certainly had impeccable timing and Caroline knew she could possibly be in trouble. His eyes searched hers before glancing at his brother lazily. “Can we move this along and just get to Mystery Falls already.”

“It’s called Mystic Falls,” Caroline corrected him tersely, trying to ignore the way those dark jeans and navy henley fitted him way too snugly

She’d only just met the guy but he was already wearing on her last nerve. She wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t get the name of her hometown right or whether it was the fact he could be her soulmate. Either way it looked like she wasn’t going to be rid of him anytime soon.

TBC?

[patheticphallacy]

Another instalment of ‘how cheesy can Connie get’- MY FAVOURITE ROMANCE FILMS.

I have watched a lot of films- a large amount of them romances- so I figured I’m kind of a burgeoning expert on what romances are actually good, and which are overrated [sorry, The Notebook just isn’t as great as people like to say].

While some of these may not technically be romances straight up, the romance elements are my favourite parts, so I’ve placed an emphasis on that in this post.

Before Sunrise dir. Richard Linklater

This is the first installment in a series of films following the same couple. In Before Sunrise, a French student and an American spend a night together in Vienna getting to know each other. It’s very pretentious, but I swear, you’ll fall in love with these two without even realising!

When Harry Met Sally dir. Rob Reiner

Truly an Iconique film starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as best friends, starting from the first time they meet [making a trip to New York together after the graduate] and picking up several years later when they bump into each other again. It’s honestly very wholesome, if you ignore the weird age gap where they try to make Billy Crystal seem younger but in reality just making him seem even older. 

Ever After dir. Andy Tennant

Ever After is a retelling of Cinderella set in France, following Danielle [Drew Barrymore] who begins to break free from the confines of her abusive stepmother after meeting the charming Prince Henry. This is one of my all time favourite period movies, besides Pride and Prejudice, and I adore it. Put Your Arms Around Me is a BOP, and that scene where Danielle picks Henry up still gives me life. Also Leonardo da Vinci is in it? It’s dope. 

The Edge of Seventeen dir. Kelly Fremon Craig

Hailee Steinfeld KILLED me with her performance in this film. She plays Nadine, ailing teenager whose childhood best friend- and only friend- starts dating her older brother Darian, leaving her alone and struggling to find a new place for herself. Nadine has an adorable relationship develop with Erwin, whom I love and adore with all my heart, and this works perfectly for people looking for a film that examines all kinds of relationships- brother and sister, mother and daughter, friendships including those with teachers- as well as how damaging losing your loved ones can be.

Tangled dir. Byron Howard, Nathan Greno

Disney peaked when they created Flynn Rider. Rapunzel finds herself setting out of her tower to see the floating lanterns on her birthday, helped by a chameleon, a horse, a bunch of ruffians, and Flynn Rider, thief and love of my childhood self’s life. Their romance is ADORABLE.

Wall-E dir. Andrew Stanton

After Earth has been abandoned for 700 years, waste lifter Wall-E is the last robot left and, after so long alone, has developed a personality. After meeting EVE, sent on a scanning mission to find life on Earth, Wall-E follows her across the galaxy and makes an impression on everyone he meets along the way. If you didn’t cry at the final scene between Eve and Wall-E in this, you don’t have a heart!

Pride and Prejudice dir. Joe Wright

As much as I love the BBC adaptation and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, this one trumps all. It’s a classic! Elizabeth Bennet [Keira Knightley] meets Mr Darcy at a ball. He sticks his foot in his mouth, repeatedly, while Elizabeth deals with her own family drama. It’s adorable, and Matthew Macfadyen is a national treasure for playing Mr Darcy as such an anxious and socially awkward guy. Keira Knightley is, as per usual, beautiful. 

UP dir. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

I can’t even write about the relationship in this without crying. I’m crying as I write about how I won’t write about it. If you haven’t watched this, watch it. I want someone to love me this much one day. 

Beautiful Thing dir. Hettie MacDonald

The reason there aren’t more LGBT+ films on this list is that I’m planning a whole recommendation series in June and July for PRIDE. This one is a special one, though. It’s the first LGBT+ film I ever watched, following Jamie and Ste, two boys who live on a council estate who fall for each other. It’s so fucking CUTE, you have no idea. Shirley and Kim from Eastenders are in it! It’s iconic and so, so British. The final scene is the reason I want Dream a Little Dream to be my dance song at my wedding one day. 

Four Weddings and a Funeral dir. Mike Newell

Who cares about Hugh Grant when there’s literally every other relationship in this film? John Hannah personally came into my home when I was 11 years old and made me sob like a baby, and continues to do so every time I watch this. It is really sad- fair warning- but it’s so moving and has some great approaches to relationships.

10 Things I Hate About You dir. Gil Junger

YOU’RE JUST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE…………….. this is the only version of Taming of the Shrew that matters, and that includes the original play, because nobody loses sight of who they really are for the sake of romance. Bianca Stratford can’t date until her older sister, Kat, does. In comes Patrick Verona who, after being offered money, agrees to date Kat, and proceeds to falls head over heels for her. I cried so much at the English speech scene, you have no idea!

Dirty Dancing dir. Emile Ardolino

This is the only progressive sixties set movie we need. Teenager Baby goes to a resort with her parents for the summer, and finds herself growing closer with Johnny, the resort’s dance instructor. Their relationship is beautiful. It’s surprisingly healthy, considering other movies set in this era [Grease, I’m looking at you], and I love how much these characters bring each other up with their love and show each other how valuable they really are. WHOLESOME. 

+1: 13 Going on 30 dir. Gary Winick, which I literally only just watched, and adore, and I can’t believe I only watched this film for the first time aged 19! 

+2, I guess: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang dir. Shane Black, the king of all buddy cop romances, lets be real. If Harry and Gay [it’s really his name] aren’t actually dating in the final scene of this film, I’ll eat my whole hat! I dare you to watch this and say I’m imagining these two are dating the whole time. Exactly like The Nice Guys. 

  And those are my picks! I love romance, especially romance films, so I’d really dig it if you recommended me some.

Thank you for reading, and happy valentine’s day!

Film Friday//Favourite Romance Films Another instalment of 'how cheesy can Connie get'- MY FAVOURITE ROMANCE FILMS. I have watched a lot of films- a large amount of them romances- so I figured I'm kind of a burgeoning expert on what romances are actually good, and which are overrated .

[tothemetaverseandbeyond]

REALITY CHECK: What happens after Sundance

Don't worry this article won't make you feel like you should throw in the towel, but it will make you feel less alone in your struggle to be a working director in Hollywood. It inspired me to hang in there and put my struggles in perspective. #WeAreNotAloneInThis

Directors From Sundance on What Happened Next

By MELENA RYZIK via nytimes.com

t’s almost a coronation: Every year, the Sundance Film Festival anoints a darling or two — indie writer-directors who are poised to break out, usually with their first feature. (Geremy Jasper was one at the festival that just ended in Park City, Utah.) These lucky few tend to go on to box-office or critical success, maybe even the Oscars. Think Damien Chazelle, whose “Whiplash” was the toast of the 2014 season; his “La La Land” is now the best-picture front-runner.

But what about the festival filmmakers whose works are lauded and distributed, but whose career paths are less charmed? After they’ve packed up their snow gear, there are tantalizing moments and deep frustrations. Many go on what’s known as the “water bottle tour,” meetings with development executives and agents in Los Angeles (where you’re more likely to leave with a bottle of Evian than a production deal). Most don’t have new scripts ready, a huge impediment, said the producer Anne Carey.

Then they struggle against the industry’s narrow expectations. “Any person coming out of Sundance is in a box, particularly if you only have one film under your name,” said the filmmaker Justin Simien. “And if you happen to be in the black box or the gay box or the woman box, I think you’re in a smaller box.”

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking: “You have a whole year, and then there’s a whole new batch of kids at Sundance, and then it’s their year,” said the director Kat Candler. “Your spotlight has shifted.”

For three filmmakers — Mr. Simien, 33, from Los Angeles; Ms. Candler, 42, who lives in Austin, Tex.; and Sara Colangelo, 37, based in New York — who made their feature debuts in 2014, alongside Mr. Chazelle, what happened next felt like one step forward, two back. Their paths hold lessons for other artists and offer a glimpse into how Hollywood careers are really made.

Justin Simien

2014 Two years before, Justin Simien quit his day job to make his debut feature, “Dear White People.” He had worked in movie marketing, so he had some insider savvy. What he didn’t know was how his film, a satire of race relations set on a college campus, would be received by the mostly white audiences at Sundance. “I was kind of terrified, to be honest,” he said.

“Dear White People” struck a chord, earning a festival award for breakthrough talent. A distribution deal soon followed. “I went into it just hoping that when I came out, I could at least pay my rent,” Mr. Simien said. “That didn’t happen.”

But in Los Angeles afterward, he was in demand, attending dozens of development meetings for months. He understood the process: “Part of being a development person is checking off the list” that you’ve met with Sundance alumni, he said.

Nonetheless, it seemed like he had arrived. Even if the offers were not as big as those some of his white counterparts were getting — “Nobody was talking about ‘Jurassic World,’” he said, the film Colin Trevorrow landed after his Sundance debut — he didn’t feel pigeonholed. Several projects floated up, like a dark comedy with Anthony Mackie attached.

Yet Mr. Simien was still strapped for cash. Driving to those Beverly Hills meetings, “I was afraid to pull up to the valet, because my hubcaps were falling off,” he said.

In the spring, he sold a book version of “Dear White People” that kept him afloat financially. The film opened in the fall, to critical acclaim.

2015 As Mr. Simien toured with his film, he found a second career as a speaker, especially at colleges. “Any school that was dealing with a race issue would book the film and then book me,” he said. He made the movie to spark discussion, so these encounters were gratifying and meaningful.

He jotted down stories he heard from the students, too. When a studio approached him about making a TV version of “Dear White People,” his notes — fresh ideas — were immediately useful.

2016 In May, Netflix announced the series. In June, Mr. Simien sat in a production space and marveled at his fortune. “I’m in an office! There’s a lamp from HomeGoods! It’s mind-boggling,” he said. He presided over a diverse writers’ room of seven people, discussing civil rights, “blacktivism” and cultural identity. With the veteran showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser, he learned to make a TV series.

2017 “That was probably the hardest thing I ever did,” Mr. Simien said in January after finishing the show’s first season. Production had wrapped on Election Day; the series’ themes were landing in a much more charged cultural landscape than where they were conceived. “This show is 100 percent part of the resistance,” he said.

Mr. Simien is pleased with it but itching to get to other projects. “Creatively, I just need to prove to myself and to others in the industry, I’m not a one-trick pony,” he said.

Hiring for his series, he had noted that white male colleagues had been given more career chances. “The opportunities that I have tend to be self-made,” he said, adding, “You just gotta keep grinding — which has worked out so far.”

Sara Colangelo

2014 The writer-director Sara Colangelo arrived at Sundance that January with an ambitious debut, “Little Accidents.” Set and shot in a West Virginia coal-mining town, with a sprawling story line, it was created after Ms. Colangelo won a coveted spot in the Sundance screenwriting and directing labs three years earlier, and secured a budget of $1.2 million, all major for a first-time indie filmmaker. The cast — including Elizabeth Banks, Josh Lucas and Chloë Sevigny — was enviable, too. But even as she set out to unveil it, Ms. Colangelo said, she knew that her film was not exactly what she wanted it to be.

“There were moments in the editing room where I was like, I’m enormously proud, but these things might not be working,” she said. Was the film too sad? How would the marketplace react? “I was aware of what the challenges were.”

The film came with hard-to-meet expectations. Critics at the festival praised the acting, though, and the scene-setting.

Ms. Colangelo made the Los Angeles rounds that fall, and was sent a few scripts, but no jobs materialized. She made ends meet doing corporate videos. Financially, she said, “there were nine months or so where it was like, it’s going to be tough.”

2015 “Little Accidents” made it to theaters a full year after Sundance. Reviews were largely welcoming, but it barely eked out $10,000 — total — at the box office. Still, Ms. Colangelo earned a nomination for best first screenplay at that year’s Indie Spirit Awards, and that led to a few writer-for-hire jobs, polishing other people’s work.

In the meantime, she watched friends and Sundance alumni — mostly men — advance. Doubts crept in: Could she have done more on “Little Accidents”? Her male counterparts were often allowed reshoots. Somehow, for them, “the money was found.”

She asked herself, “What kind of leader do you have to be to get those things? Is it charisma? Is it truly gender?”

She was buoyed when Israeli producers asked her to adapt an acclaimed, female-driven foreign drama. (They declined to reveal it.) Ms. Colangelo worked on the script for months and finally signed a deal at the end of the year.

2016 As the Israeli film’s location and financiers bounced from Canada to New York, and casting decisions loomed, Ms. Colangelo hung on to direct. She vowed to be more flexible on production details and bolder in her focus on story.

2017 Her self-doubt was erased, replaced with excitement, and pride: She plans to begin shooting the new film this summer, shortly after the birth of her first child.

“There’s this feeling that the industry sometimes gives you, that you have this window of opportunity after Sundance and if you don’t perform perfectly in that moment or have a perfect script, then the window shuts,” she said. “And I think that’s a dangerous way to think about it.”

Momentum, she discovered, can rebound. “And it’s O.K. to retrieve it and find it later.”

Kat Candler

2014 A self-taught filmmaker with several shorts to her credit, Kat Candler landed at Sundance with the family drama “Hellion.” “I was definitely hoping to get representation,” she said, a distribution deal and attention for other projects.

She knew that breakout success was rare and that her route would be tough, especially without superlative reviews.

A month later, she did her water bottle week in Los Angeles. “It felt like ‘The Amazing Race,’” she said, eight meetings a day. Little came of them.

“Hellion,” starring Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad,” opened in theaters five months later, and Ms. Candler hit the road to promote it. Live Q. and A.s, Skype sessions — “Anytime anybody asked, it was a yes,” she said. “It was exhausting, after a while. I wish someone had warned me.”

Her promotion helped, but not much; “Hellion” just did not have the marketing dollars. In retrospect, she said, her efforts distracted her from “putting all the pieces for another project together.”

2015 A year after Sundance, Ms. Candler was growing anxious. “I felt like, oh, what am I doing?” she said.

But she was halfway into a 12-month mentorship program, sponsored by the Sundance women’s filmmaking initiative. “The life coach was pretty transformative,” she said. She shelved her jealousy about others’ deals. “I can go write for four hours and feel a sense of accomplishment,” she said.

A push to break into TV directing was fruitless, though. No one wanted to an untested TV director, even if she had already conquered the big screen. (Male directors, research shows, face a lower bar for hiring.)

“Sometimes you just wonder, how much harder do I have to work to prove myself?” Ms. Candler said. Her life coach offered a mantra: You belong in the room. So at every meeting, she said, “I tell myself, ‘You’ve earned your space.’”

In the summer, she shot a campaign for Canon. Besides money from teaching a college class, it was her first real paycheck in years. Still, she worried about car insurance payments and other bills.

2016 Back in Los Angeles, Ms. Candler had meetings about a female-centered feature she was writing. It could go indie or mainstream, depending on the stars and how much control Ms. Candler ceded. “Do I really want to go out for a project that doesn’t have great humanity? No,” she said.

A turning point came in the spring, when she shot two episodes of “Queen Sugar,” the series created by Ava DuVernay that employs only female directors. No pitch meetings were necessary; they knew each other through the festival circuit.

The paucity of female directors has been a hot topic in Hollywood, but Ms. Candler was over it. “Just hire,” she said. “It really isn’t that hard.”

2017 “Queen Sugar” was renewed, and Ms. DuVernay asked Ms. Candler to return, now as the producing director.

Ms. Candler went on to shoot episodes of other series. She has work lined up through 2018.

She felt confident before “Queen Sugar,” she said. “I just don’t think that people had confidence in us. Ava legitimized all of us.”

After 17 years in the field, she said, she was at last making a living as a filmmaker.