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I discovered Muse thanks to my nephew. He was paying me back for introducing him to a lot of previously unheard stuff.

I'm fed up of work getting in the way of my fannish life. Sometimes I bloody hate working shifts, most weekends and having odd holidays (worked a 12.5 hour shift on Christmas Day and was in again on the 26th). I won't have been able to watch any of the Sherlock eps at the time of broadcast. Having said that, it does give me the wherewithal to go to conventions and stuff without necessarily having to use my holidays up.

Football is almost a religion in Liverpool. We have 2 top flight clubs, Liverpool and Everton, and there can be a lot of friction between fans. Having said that, when it counts, we do stick together. I was brought up as a Liverpool supporter, in a Liverpool supporting household - to the extent that the reason my mum gave me for not wanting me to dye my hair blue as a teen was that she didn't want anyone to think there was an Everton supporter in our house (Liverpool's colour is red, Everton's is blue). It worked, and I dyed my hair purple instead... Now I don't really follow 'the footie' as we call it, but I do still have a team I support. They are Real Gothic FC, a team of goths who were formed to play a charity match at Whitby Goth Weekend against a team of people from the local paper (Athletico Gazette FC) to raise money for a new stand (where people sit) for Whitby football club in 2004, and have played twice a year ever since. It's a good match between them and the locals (the local team is now called Stokoemotiv Whitby FC) and apparently has a bigger crowd than the ones for the proper Whitby Town FC matches - cheap bar and food might have something to do with that as goths do like to have a drink or two. I have a couple of scarves and a shirt, so I definitely class as a fan. One of my friends who went with me to the last Whitby Goth Weekend even got on the team! http://www.realgothicfc.co.uk/

Quick question about this ep... Moffatt said (repeatedly) that there was something fandom had missed clue wise with regards to the Fall, something that was out of character for Sherlock. I might just be being thick, but I can't actually think of anything that I hadn't already seen discussed in fandom as having been revealed. I've not had the time for a rewatch yet (too much time spent working and sleeping, thanks NHS) and haven't been able to keep up to speed with this thread (for the same reasons). Any good ideas as to what that "something" might have been?

My dad was stationed at Bletchley Park when he did his national service with the RAF, apparently he used to sneak out to play football as he was on the town's team and not the RAF's team.

I like what I've seen of Mary so far, I don't find her annoying in the slightest unlike some people I know, I just worry what the last episode is going to do to her, John, Sherlock and the baby...

I'm posting this in the S3 section as the post to which I'll link further down the page has big honking spoilers for both episodes 1&2 of S3. Basically, this is a meta discussing John Watson's sexuality, his perception of it with regards to himself and society and how that differs from his perception and acceptance of others. It is well worth a read and quite thought provoking and addresses John's constant protestations of "I'm not gay!" in a way you might not have considered. It also touches on Mary and John's relationship both to each other, and with Sherlock. So, go read... The Case of John Watson's Sexuality on livejournal.

Another one for the dictionary... What does "faffing about" mean? Escribblings nicely explained this: Faffing about - when he was flustered, trying to work things out and just flitting round the room babbling. Faff-about-around - Cambridge Dictionary Quote from further down that page - "You are looking at an entry to do with Behaving in a silly way, "

This episode has a lot of feels - it made me laugh a lot, cringe a fair bit and I also sniffled for Sherlock on his own at the end. My satellite feed went wonky halfway through the stag night bit so I missed a couple of minutes - going to re-record the repeat to double check I haven't missed anything important. What's piddling me off about this series is that I haven't been able to watch any of the episodes as broadcast - New Years Day I was travelling, and I was working the night shift on Sunday. I'll be working nights again this weekend too. In fact, I've not seen any of my 'must watch' telly as it was aired in the last 2 months - I was working when the 50th anniversary episode and the Christmas episode of Doctor Who were broadcast, not to mention the more regular things.

I remember crying my eyes out over Jane Eyre as a kid in the bit where Helen Burns dies. I still cry over books now, when I get a chance to read, and I'll go ape if I think there has been any character assassination of a character I love in a film adaptation or a review of a film/book (I was very cross about what they did with Faramir in LOTR until I saw the extended version, for instance). So yes, I care. Yes, I might pay more attention to ficitonal characters at times (because the ones in my RL just aren't as interesting sometimes) but I wouldn't say I love them more.

Actually depends on where you come from, and possibly how old you are. I think learning Welsh is compulsory in Welsh schools now but wasn't oooh say 30 years ago ish from what I remember. If you're from the 'heartland' of North Wales - Gwynedd, Anglesey and Conwy - you're more likely to be a native Welsh speaker. I have friends from the Llŷn Peninsula (the bit that sticks out at the top of Wales, near Anglesey) and Snowdonia, who didn't learn how to speak English until they went to school. Likewise, if you're from one of the more traditional 'Valleys' in South Wales you might be more likely to speak Welsh, though in those areas it is no longer so common thanks to the decimation of the communities by the closure of the mines and economic collapse. In the big cities of the south I don't think it has ever been common to be a Welsh speaker. Also, the northern and southern Welsh accents are noticeably different - but you can only really tell if you're familiar with Welsh accents in the first place, same as it's only possible to tell the difference between the northern and southern Liverpool accents. As a big chunk of the Liverpool accent is from Irish and Welsh, I think us Scousers are pretty good at being able to differentiate regional Irish, Welsh and, to a lesser extent, Scottish accents. A lot of being able to recognise accents is familiarity, and having a good ear. Not many people who don't come from Cumbria (the English Lake District) can recognise a Cumbrian accent for instance, but because I used to spend time there every year on holiday in quite rural areas surrounded by people with strong accents, I find it quite easy - I am able to tell the difference between some of the regional variations too. Helps that my parents live there now! I've also never had a problem being able to tell the difference between an Australian accent and a New Zealand accent, which I understand can be difficult for some people. I couldn't tell you the difference, but I recognise it when I hear it.

The comment about Dragons being tolerated/revered/respected in those of celtic backgrounds could be one reason why I've never thought of them as the bad guys, despite being brought up as RC. While we were a catholic family, we were essentially an Irish catholic family and my dad's family is Welsh. My mum, though she's only about 5/8 Irish, would never allow anyone to call her English as the bits of her background that were English were from Cornwall so in her mind she certainly wasn't of Saxon descent and therefore, not English. As a kid, although I had the legends of George and the Dragon on the one hand, I also had the legend of Arthur Pendragon on the other. Dragons to me were tricksy beasts, intelligent and powerful and fond of riddles (it isn't just Tolkien that makes this point) but not inherently bad - they had an honour that couldn't be faulted and were worthy of respect.

I suppose I have to admit at some point that although I liked The Hobbit as a book, it never grabbed me the same way as The Lord of the Rings did - or the appendices of LOTR or The Silmarillion for that matter - and I haven't bothered re-reading it for the films. Consequently a lot of the details from the book are half-remembered on my part and I think I'll get more enjoyment from the films because of that - I loved the LOTR films, but there were quite a few moments when I wanted to yell at the screen for certain discrepancies (we won't go into how annoyed I was that Legolas was blond when he shouldn't have been as I've got used to it now, and at least they're being consistent.) Oh and T.o.b.y. - Dragons aren't always portrayed as evil... The whole Dragonriders of Pern series has them being awesome, something like 22 novels, plus at least 5 others that I can think of off the top of my head (though they aren't as big a part of those worlds as they are in Pern).

There were heaps of battles in the SilmariIlion - I plotted out the Five Great Battles of Beleriand on the map that comes with the book, because I wanted to know where they were in relation to each other while I was reading it again (for the nth time - first read when I was about 10 or 11). I have a thing about maps. The Silmarillion wasn't just about battles though, the tale of Beren and Luthien is lovely.

Another recent interview with Paul McGann, again lovely to hear his proper accent.

An interview with Paul McGann, happy now he's been onscreen again as the Eighth Doctor and wanting all fans to send in their hair! If you know what to listen for, you can really hear his Scouse (Liverpool) accent in this

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I need this! War Doctor figure with Eighth Doctor head (with the right hair).

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My local cinema has released the dates for The Hobbit screenings. Looks like I'll be going along with EvigMidnat too. It's a smashing cinema, has been open since the 1920s and they stop the film in the middle for an intermission so you can get ice cream. http://www.wooltonpicturehouse.com/

They had a viewing of A Scandal in Belgravia 2 weeks prior to the broadcast date and I found it pretty easy to remain unspoilered for those 2 weeks. Fingers crossed for the same this time. Having said that, it's probably easier for me as I work shifts and can avoid interacting with the outside world very easily.

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