221B Con 2025 Panel List
Follow this Link to the 2025 Schedule Grid
Ace Representation in Media - Let's talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of Ace Rep in the media.
The Adventures of Jamie Watson (and Sherlock Holmes) Screening & FAQ - Watch some of a modern queer genderbending Sherlock Holmes webseries, hear a reading from the upcoming third season, and talk to the filmmakers about the show.
Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street Irregulars, and other Sherlockian Societies - A discussion of traditional or "old school" Sherlockian fandom: history, present conditions, how to get involved.
Agatha All Along - Gays???? In the MCU?????? More likely than you think!
AI and Fandom: The Possibilities and the Pitfalls - Artificial Intelligence, and the ease of both use and access to it, is not going away. How does AI affect the creative sphere of the Sherlock Holmes fandom? Can we artificially create the scenes we wanted to see - and should we? What about its effect on fanfiction and fan-art? And what are the wider implications for traditional artists, writers, vidders, and other creatives?
ROUNDTABLE
The Art of Not Staying in Your Lane - A discussion about writing diverse characters who are not of your own background.
Artistic Interpretation: The Illustrated Sherlock Holmes - From Paget to some of our favorite artists of today, let’s discuss our favorites, why they are so visually appealing, and look at some of the ones we may not be familiar with.
Autism and Neurodiversity in Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock Holmes and related characters have long been a nexus of community for neurodivergent and autistic people. Many of us recognize neurodivergent traits in Sherlock and his supporting cast. What does it mean to “headcanon” a character as autistic? Why do autistic people gravitate towards Holmes, and why do so many of us identify with him?
Be Careful What You Wish For: Returning TV Shows - We live in an era where TV show cancellations don’t always stick. Various fan favorite TV shows have returned after years gone by, including Gilmore Girls, Frasier, Murphy Brown, The X-Files, Jonathan Creek, and the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But can any of these revivals be considered successful?
ROUNDTABLE
Beyond D&D: The Wide World of TTRPGs, Variety in Tabletop Gaming - D&D might be the OG, but what else is out there?
Brother Mine, How You've Changed - An exploration of the Holmes Brothers over visual media, including movies and comics, and time.
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Can You Do That and Live? - Medical professionals lead a discussion on medical picking for fan fiction.
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
The Care and Feeding of Your AO3 Account - How to do searches, skins, bookmarks, etc. for readers and authors; a no judgement discussion of all things AO3.
Creating a Sherlockian Video Game - Guest Helen Greetham shares how she came to create “The Beekeeper’s Picnic” and some of the challenges in doing so, as well as a few Easter Eggs.
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Critical Role: 10 Years and Still Rolling - Critical Role has been around for a decade now. Come talk about the show in all its various iterations and what the future might hold.
The Cults of Sherlock Holmes Canon - Moriarty’s web. The Scowrers. The Red Circle. Explore these and other villainous groups of the Sherlock Holmes canon. Are they cults? Mobs? And how do they compare to real criminal organizations?
Dressing Victoria - The history of Queen Victoria, how she went from stylish monarch to perpetual widow, from someone cosplaying Her Majesty.
Dynamics of a Podcast: Taking Down the Bad Guys - Villains get all the good press - in real life! They're cool, they're awesome, they're - no, wait, they're not, they're actually pretty pathetic. Join our podcast for a fun discussion as we dismantle the reputations of iconic bad guys (and see where Moriarty, Moran, and other Canonical villains fall in the ranking!).
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Ephemeral Fandom: The Importance of Fandom History and Preservation - Let’s be honest, Fandom is fleeting. How much of it is lost? How can we each do our part to preserve it?
Everything We Know About Mycroft Holmes is a Lie - Canonical John Watson is not a reliable narrator, and he often contradicts himself, particularly when it comes to Sherlock’s older brother. Does this uncertainty contribute to why the reclusive Holmes is a fan fave?
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Fandom Fragmentation: How do we keep in touch? - Our beloved spaces are unfortunately never permanent. We’ve seen them come and go. Whether it was Fanfiction.net, IRC chat rooms, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook… with the constant changes, how do we stay together?
Fanfiction Workshop (+18) - Always a favorite from year 1 of 221B Con.
MUST BRING ID, NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Good Art by Bad People - How do you cope when someone who made something you love turns out to be terrible?
Harry Houdini - A panel about the renowned magician, escape artist, and debunker, a.k.a. the exhausted short king standing next to ACD in that one picture on Tumblr.
Holmes vs Doyle - Lucy Worsley’s latest look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hit BBC a year ago and PBS just this past December. Did one of our favorite historians and costumers find anything new?
Holmestice Introduction and Meetup - What is Holmestice? It’s a twice-yearly fanworks gift exchange open to EVERY incarnation of the Sherlock Holmes multiverse, from the Original Flavour to the very newest, hosted on Dreamwidth and AO3. Since 2010, the fest has produced works for more than 80 different Holmesian and Holmes-adjacent universes. Find out more about this event open to fanfic, fanart, podfic, vids, graphics, original music, fanmixes, and anything else that can be gifted digitally.
How to Succeed as a Sherlockian Publisher - Join one of our sponsors, Belanger Books, as they celebrate their tenth anniversary of publishing. We’ll discuss what it is like to be a Sherlockian publisher and their successes and pitfalls.
NOT OPEN TO OUTSIDE PANELISTS
Jaws 50th! - Let’s celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first summer blockbuster!
My Dear Watson: Short Film Staged Reading and Q&A - “My Dear Watson” is a short screenplay that is a queer, young adult adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. The story finds a teenage version of the detective trying to solve the mystery of who his secret admirer is, not realizing that it is actually Watson!
Mystrade: The Grownups in the Room - A panel discussion of the Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade ship. Based on an off the cuff comment by Lestrade in BBC Sherlock, this ship has grown steadily over the years, with over 13K fics in AO3 alone. Why is this rare pair of two middle aged men so fascinating to read and write about?
Parentlock and the Future of the Fandom - Come discuss how "Parentlock" offers a new, hopeful path to a portion of us fans that are still in the fandom, the common tropes in it, and how it has been presented in other adaptations.
Researching the Past - How to find information about Victorian England (or other eras) and weave it into stories or gain greater understanding of the original Sherlock Holmes' cases.
Scrubbing Your Fic - A discussion of how to scrub fanfiction in order to publish as an original work.
Sherlock and Co. - This podcast has taken the Sherlockian world by storm. Let’s chat!
Sherlock on Stage - Join us as we discuss the Sherlockian plays we’ve seen or wished we’d seen. And maybe some we regret seeing. Your contributions welcome!
Sherlolly: The Little Ship that Could - It's been fifteen years since Molly Hooper stepped into Sherlock Holmes’ life on screen with her cherry jumper and morbid humor, and we as shippers haven't been the same since. Join us to discuss Sherlock and Molly as a pair and all the ups and downs of being a Sherlollian.
The Staying Power of Anne Rice - From a beloved series of books, multiple movies, several TV shows, and even a Broadway musical by Elton John, what is it about Anne Rice's vampire novels that continue to stand the test of time?
The Terror: Your New Favorite Show - A discussion of AMC's forgotten prestige show The Terror (2018), based on the real-life lost Franklin Expedition.
A Timeline of the Holmes/Watson Partnership No Matter When - Looking at the touchpoints of their original lives, how do we see Holmes and Watson evolving as a team over time in any era? Is seventeen years out of the twenty-three years of Holmes's career a good working model?
Watson? Is That You? - Faithful companion? Boobus Britannicus? Emotional counterpart? Lady? The actual hero? Enigma? Ladies man? Robot?! Watson has appeared in various guises from canon to canon and all the adaptations, but how do we recognize a Watson? What is at the core of a portrayal?
ROUNDTABLE
When the Rose Speaks its Name: A Sherlock Holmes Anthology - A deeper look at the Sherlock Holmes anthology released in August of 2024. Join some of the contributors and editors for a chat about everything from the idea to the completed project.
Women of the Canon - Always fashionable. Always making a scene. From Irene to Mary to the many Violets. Let’s discuss the ladies of canon.
Writing Sherlockian Articles Based on Historical Holmes and Watson - Writing serious articles merging our history with Watson's own is an ongoing bit as old as the fandom itself. How do we keep that game not only going after a hundred years, but fresh for new players?