I watched Nosferatu last weekend, and liked it a lot. I even go as far as saying it’s one of the best vampire movies I have watched. My son, who saw it before me, said it was a bit too slow for his taste, but for me the pacing was perfect. The photo and settings were simply gorgeous, and so were the costumes. I only saw one dress that I thought was a bit not quite right. There was a lovely attention to details, like the Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling, and the sequence with a naked girl on a white horse was lifted from an actual practice to find vampires. I also found the acting excellent, all round, with people acting like 19th century people, not modern ones in period clothes. The movie also refrained from making a villain of the rich friend who made some questionable decisions in the treatment of Ellen. He never acts like he does because he is evil, but because he is depicted as a man of his time. And he is also a loving husband and father, and a good friend.

My main criticism is on the subject of the vampire itself. I’ve no problems with making him monstrous, which Dracula in the novel actually is, and not always handsome either. And I think Bill Skarsgård did a great job menacing his way through the plot. As long as he was kept slightly out of focus I found him rather scary. But a lot of that disappeared when we were treated with closeups in great detail, and that took away a lot from the last scene for me. Also, all that heavy breathing? Since when do the undead breathe? But overall I thought it a very good movie.

I’ve watched a great deal of TV shows in the past few years, and many of them were very good. None has prompted me to write fanfic, that hasn’t happened since The Queen’s Gambit. I really enjoyed Shadow and Bone and thought it a pity we only got two seasons. Loved the costumes in that one too!

I really like Ncuti Gatwa as our new Doctor, and Ruby as a companion too. Though I like Jodie Whittaker as an actress, I was a bit sad that I didn’t like her Doctor very much. I wanted to! And I think it was a disservice to give her so many companions. I feel like the showrunners didn’t trust a female Doctor to own the show. I liked Sacha Dhawan as the master, though I don’t buy that the Master would want to destroy the universe- he wants to rule it! I thoroughly enjoyed getting Ten back, kind sorta, and that they finally let Donna have her memory back! The way she was treated always annoyed me. I don’t care if it was fan service. When it comes to Doctor Who, I’m all for the fan service. Needless to say I also enjoyed getting Tegan, Ace and Mel back. My prediction is that Ruby’s mystery neighbour is either Susan or Romana.

What I haven’t enjoyed are the news about Neil Gaiman.

Cut for talk about sexual abuse.

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velvetwhip wished for 1) A really dark, evil, twisted Angelus/Willow fic/ficlet for the second Snowflake Challenge. I saw her wish and thought I would really like to grant it as she has always been so kind to me and then I went on a long walk with my dogs and this little ficlet sprang to mind. It’s probably not as dark and twisted as she hoped, but I would never have written it if she hadn’t wished it.

It is also a bit AU. It takes place when Angelus is back in Angel in season 5. And I was completely convinced that Willow helped taking away Angel’s soul, not just restoring it. Then I checked and I realised that I was wrong, but by then I had the whole story finished in my mind, so and AU-fic it is.

Title: I Know What You Want
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Buffy and Angel; I just play with them for fun.
Fandom: BtVS and Angel
Characters: Angelus, Willow Rosenberg
Rating: R
Warnings: Mind games
Complete: Yes
Summary: Willow goes to see Angelus in the cellar of Angel’s hotel.

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Title: Sophie
Disclaimer: The character of Dracula is free, but what I have borrowed from Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" is hers.
Rating: PG13
Category: Angst/horror
Summary: Two women meet in a library, but one of them isn't quite who she seems. And Dracula does not take kindly to perceived competition. A sequel to "Clara". The Historian fandom but can be read by anyone who enjoys vampire stories.
AN: AN: This is a sequel to a story I wrote called Clara. I do think it can be read anyway, but perhaps you will enjoy it more if you read Clara first. This is a vampire story and though it fits into the fandom of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, the myth of Dracula is so universal that you don’t have to read that book to enjoy this story. The characteristics of Kostova’s Dracula are making the myth Dracula the same as the real Dracula, a singularly unpleasant Wallachian prince named Vlad Tepes in the late 15th century. That is an idea that has been touted before Kostova wrote her excellent book. More unique is making her Dracula a lover of history and scholarly research. And these things are what I have borrowed for my fanfic.

Special thanks to my dear friend M who reads, comments and cheers me on

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Title: Clara
Rating: R
Category: Horror, NC
Summary: A young librarian is unfortunate enough to attract the attention of Dracula.

AN: Long time no chapters. As always there is the matter of time to write it down- the story has been finished in my mind for a long time. I have been asked when this story takes place, which I admit isn't very clear. In my mind it's the late 50's. I found it a bit funny when I very recently started to watch Mad Men and found that Joanie's relationship with her fiancé Fred to be quite close to Clara's to her Fred. Even more so as Joanie (Christina Hendricks) actually comes quite close to how I visualize Clara- only Clara's hair is dark. So, here it is the next to last chapter, I hope you will enjoy it

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