Hiya all, don't know if anybody will respond to this because GridlockDC '15 just happened, but I thought I'd ask and hope someone notices.
I totally didn't know about this con until, like... last week. (I just went to my first con a month ago, okay??? :p) So I've never travelled in my life and DC is a ways away from me and I'm consistantly on a budget but I'm a huge Sherlockian and this... this con.
If you've been there - or if you're one of the con runners, great - how goes this con? What all goes down as far as panels? Guests? How many people attend? I've looked on the website, but seeing as how I just missed it, I don't think there's as much info there as there probably is, haha. Are there lots of vendors with lotsa Sherlock merch? More importantly (and I cringe to say this, but I know our fandom!) is everyone respectable? The con mentality where people are bashing people for their ships or their adaptation or their headcanons absolutely terrifies me. I've got a little bit of Cumberbatch Sherlock in me; social settings sometimes unsettle me but I've got to get over my social anxiety so
basically
if you've been to GridlockDC, how was your experience?
Tell me anything or everything. It looks like great fun but I've got to figure if it's worth the money and travel! Thank you all so much <3
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Running around with audio tech is just what I do.Â
The podfic panel podficced.Â
Sleeping in the closet is no big deal (#420lock!)Â
Real Person Cosplay: not necessarily creepy.Â
TPP’s Speedy’s was awesome to set up, be in, and take down.
Too many awesome people to keep track of.
Important thing: BURLESQUE
The burlesque show on Friday night was fun and hot and now I desperately need us to put on our own burlesque show. Who wants to add some sexy cosplay shedding to the (expected) Gridlock 2016 dance party? I’m already choreographing an army John sequence (think STOMP), and would love to perform Mary and/or Moriarty. Burlesque shows often include drag lipsynching too, for those who like to show off in character but don’t need to disrobe.Â
THIS MUST HAPPEN. So if anyone is interested in taking part (*cough* johnfuckingwatson​ *cough*) we should be in touch.
All photos care of other people (mostly avawatson), because cameras what?Â
More prattle below the cut.
This con was a blast. I very nearly didn’t go, and that would have been a shame. Lots of stuff happened, mostly good! (face planting on the bottom of the pool was really the only exception. I blame the noise from dozens of congoers in a small but reverberant space.)
Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of time in Speedy’s fussing with audio and shoving microphones in people’s faces for the threepatchpodcast. So many brilliant things were said, but in the process of handing around mics, I hardly caught anyone’s name! I’d love to know who was in attendance so I might connect faces and thoughts to your online identities.
Panels
The podfic panel was great. My thanks to consultingsmartarse for putting it together, to the very interesting @kholly12 and bagofthumbs for adding their experience and methods, and to everyone who came and participated in the live podfic recording, including the ooOOOooers. The “I’m your housekeeper, not your plot device” was also way fun. I would drop everything to hear drinkingcocoa-tpp talk about the women of sherlock, and you should to. In fact, you can, by reading this meta.
I didn’t get to many panels as a participant, sadly, but the tattoo one was really inspiring. Maybe one day I will join the ranks of the fannishly marked.
Cosplay
There were so many brilliant cosplayers, including the meta cosplays (shout out the Johnlock trash!) My one costume is Sue Vertue, the producer of Sherlock, which always needs to be explained. RP cosplay doesn’t seem to be very common, so i was thrilled to get a cast photo with cosplayers at the Kissing Booth. They even managed to switch personas to the corresponding actors! intricatearticulation had all of Gatiss’s easy and sass, unknownsister caught Grave’s adorable mix of confused puppy and blue steel, johnfuckingwatson nailed Cumberbatch’s aloof-via-distraction and goofball-ness, @jupitereyed is channeling intensity from Freeman himself, and scopesandskullties totally flipped the switch from Moriarty to Scott’s happy open sweetness. All I had to do was stand around looking pleased at my “cast”, which I’m sure Vertue totally does once the filming is done.
Roomies
#420lock was the awesome home base I shared was intricatearticulation, unknownsister, and avawatson. They all helped me put on eyeliner wings and lipstick for the burlesque show (new things!) and it was great to hang out with them and all the other folks that piled into our room (particularly mydwynter, we will have words again, I am sure.)
And about that closet rumour: Yes, I did sleep in the closet. No, it wasn’t to avoid sharing a bed with avawatson; she was quite well behaved that first night. It was a voluntary move on my part, and there is no shame in being a literal closet dweller. (Nor is there shame in being a figurative closet dweller; comfort and safety for all.) With a duvet to nest in, it was quite comfortable, and had a Watson joined me, you can well imagine the fic *eyebrow waggle*
The People
I didn’t spend nearly enough time with so many of these interesting folks. I wish I could have popped into the watch along Friday night, hung with all the cool people I follow here on tumblr, and managed to reach out rather than hide behind tech most of the weekend. Still it was good to see the familiar faces (Yay for the ever growing TPP crew!) and cheers to patternofdefiance, madnina, and librarylock for showing up enough times for me establish associations. I’ll try to catch more of you next time around, and feel free to say hi if I’m being slow or shy.
Podfic of Resolution
Author: verity-burns
Readers: patternofdefiance, rimedio8, musthaveblackedout, jinglebellfic, johnlock-destiel-trash, imwhiskeyginger
Fandom: BBC Sherlock
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Characters: Greg Lestrade, Sally Donovan, Philip Anderson, Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper
Rating: Gen
Genre: UST, Romance, Humour, 221b ficlet
Length: 2 min 08 sec
Summary: from the text: The sexual tension in 221B is nearing explosive levels, but neither inhabitant seems willing to act upon it. Why everyone behaves as if this is Lestrade's problem, he has no idea…
Listen or download the mp3 on AO3.
Reader comments: This was recorded by participants at the gridlockdc 2015 Podfic panel. consultingsmartarse, bagofthumbs, @kholly12, and fffinnagain, gave these readers less than 10 minutes to claim parts, gather round the mics, and run through it twice. Final cut produced by finnagain.
P.S. if it isn’t playing on your dash (grr chrome and tumblr) it should work on the original post page and/or on AO3.Â
First let me say, this was my first Con, and I honestly couldn’t have had a better time.  Hats off to the gridlockdc crew for hosting an amazing event, and creating such a safe space for everyone to hang-out and be among our people.
The only downside to this weekend was the sad realization that is was over as everyone started leaving (A FEW OF YOU PULLED A “DECEMBER 63″ ON US BUT YOU SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS) hehe.
Before the memories start to fade, I wanted to record some of my favorite moments...
Cosplaying for the first time as Bee Pants and Martin Freeman
Meeting up with the Trash Crew and realizing I had found my people. Â Seriously, they adopted me right from the start, and I was blown away over and over by what A+ people they all turned out to be. Â TRASHY BUT CLASSY AF.
Shout out to librarylock wistfulsighs and williamanyascottholmes for hosting the after-party every night! Â You guys rocked it.
cakepopsforeveryone and hudders-and-hiddles Here’s to bottomless mimosas and getting day drunk together. Â
alexxphoenix42 you are a walking wikipedia of fanfic knowledge and I loved meeting you!  What was the “Masturbation/Disappointment” fic again? CACKLES.
vanetti I still can’t believe it was your first con.  You owned it.  Quality Vodka Mom is Quality.  “YOU KNOW WHAT’S HARD WITH GLOVES ON??? FUCKING EVERYTHING”
GAY BRUNCH. Â I BLAME 57circlesofhell AND BY BLAME, I MEAN WORSHIP. BEST. IDEA. EVER.
Shout-out to Prince the amazing waiter. Â We gave him very little warning to get everything organized and he did a great job.
havetardiswilltimetravel for being a great roomie and a great cosplayer! Â Thanks for letting me do the pants dance with you!
stitchyblogs and danielleblogsjohnlock I still don’t know who you murdered for that ROOM but thanks for hosting the closing ceremonies!  DID WE JUST GET SHERLOLLIED?!?!?
Other highlights...Trash Crew Karaoke, whisper singing after the noise complaint, trying to sneak around the hotel at 2am with a metal chair full of snacks, the Press Conference, MUDDERS, MagNOssen, Lilo’s “John Watson is Bi” buttons, and who could forget the bottle opener on the back of the bathroom door.
I am sure I am forgetting a ton, so feel free to add to this.  But I had an amazing time.  I can’t wait for the next one. Â
I wanted to do something special for emmagrant01 at gridlockdc to show my appreciation for her friendship and goodness and talent. Â The con took place very close to her birthday, so bored-qui got a cake and I made a topper for it, using frosting to draw her social media icon. Â I learned the method from this tutorial; I chose to use melted chocolate instead of black icing.
We served the cake at the Fandom Mixer that Emma proposed and ran.
Happy birthday, emmagrant01. Â You make my world a better place.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
This past weekend at GridLOCK DC, a very special press conference was held by the Holmes brothers and associate Dr. John Watson... unfortunately, things went astray and tensions were high when a certain criminal mastermind made an appearance.
Photography by johnthreecontinents​. jupitereyed​ as John Watson, johnfuckingwatson​ as Sherlock Holmes, littleowls3​ as Mycroft Holmes, and scopesandskullties​ as Moriarty.Â
So the big take for me this weekend was that the Saturday night gang in johnfuckingwatson & jupitereyed's room coerced me into getting a snapchat. (Thanks, you two, and unknownsister, intricatearticulation, @avawatson, azureverie, queersherlockian, & many more!) So, y'know. If you wanna catch me & chat, you can do it there (chucksauce221) or on twitter (same handle).
