Saturday, April 13, 2013

221B Con Saturday continues.

Currently, I'm sitting in the back row of the "Legalities of Fan Fiction" panel, after the Doctor Who panel seemed to be retreading earlier ground which "Moffat versus Moffat" hit. Lyndsay Faye has agreed to sit in for a lawyer who couldn't come, and I think that's an exchange anyone would take. But I'm not live-blogging another panel. It's waaaay too hard to keep up, as they get a little lively.

So let me tell you a little more about the con. The hotel has a nice layout for it -- a nice-sized, multi-level atrium with function rooms jutting off its sides. Nice room to mingle and hang in that center, easy to find a friend, and with room for author's tables, registration tables, and a Tardis you can step into for a picture.

Take that space and fill it with young, excited fans, mostly female, a large number in costume. And when I say in costume, since BBC Sherlock is set in the modern day, a lot those costumes are just people in nice outfits. The murder victim from "A Study in Pink." Mycroft in his three piece suit. Sherlocks and Johns (easier to spot a John if he's with a Sherlock). A couple bunny rabbits. And Irene Adlers. All kinds of Irene Adlers. Dream-like legions of Irene Adlers.

Or maybe my focus just keeps getting drawn to the Irenes, and there are just a handful of them. Hard to tell, because there are a more than a few that draw the male attention to the deficit of all other data in the room. That's Irene for you.

Of course, there are slightly overweight, middle-aged men in over-large red t-shirts with the Dancing Men embroidered on the front . . . well, me anyway . . . and a lot of other sort of fans and folk here as well.

The dealer's room (which spills into the sides of the atrium) is nicely varied with books, steampunk gear, artists selling some neat bits of work, jewelry, hats, DVDs . . . a really nice mix of typical dealers. I keep finding myself wanting to say "just like a real con." But this is a real con, I have just become so used to Sherlock Holmes weekends fitting the workshop/symposium model with the usual dealer suspects that I keep getting a layer of surreal over it all.

Just enough old school Sherlockian friends here for a comfort zone, things running very smoothly for a first time con (or any con, it's just going very well). And the day is flying by! It needs a "pause" button -- with four or five tracks, I've already missed things. Especially if I'm trying in vain to capture it in a blog!

But more to come, later tonight!

4 comments:

  1. I am overwhelmed with just how perfect this is. I adore 221b Con. I am so delighted to see where Holmes and Watson can go, and hiw they can be reimagined. This is simply stunning.

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  2. If Elementary ever generates this much raw enthusiasm, I will totally support it. Until then, bite the butt of my air rifle, Elementary! (Sebastian Moran is starting to possess me!)

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  3. You were the guy with the red Dancing Men shirt? Loved it! (I was the girl at the dealer's table who commented on it.)

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    1. Yep, that was me! I was really happy when I finally remembered what my own shirt said on it.

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