Sherlock Holmes: Asexual Icon

[@AdequateEmily]

I never thought about Sherlock as anything but ace, I’m kinda surprised others couldn’t.

[@DavidJBradley]

Well this is because you aren't straight

[@AdequateEmily]

@@DavidJBradley This is also why I'm cool as hell.

[@DavidJBradley]

Scientifically, yes

[@thehorriblebright]

@@DavidJBradley I'm at least nominally straight and I've also never thought of Holmes as anything but asexual. Even when I had no knowledge of the concept.

[@TheSuzberry]

@@thehorriblebright - I’m nominally straight or asexual and never thought of Sherlock as a sex partner in a relationship.

[@SaichanRadioPlay1]

You made me remember the worst part of Sherlock. Season 4 Episode 2 "The Lying Detective" (yes it was written by Moffat because of course it was). Sherlock comes so so close to basically saying he's aromantic. He's like, "Romantic entanglements, while fulfilling for other people--" and John interrupts him. The arophobia. 😩😩😩

[@ilke3192]

I remember too. "completes you as a human being"... Still haunts my nightmares.

[@LittleDreamer1412]

I also remember The Abominable Bride. They sit there in silence and Watson pesters him that 'clearly there had to be women, Holmes is a man, he must have urges'... ugh.

[@CapriUni]

Regarding Sherlock's "leaning in" to his asexuality / aromanticism (aromanticness? aromancity?): Before I learned that asexuality was a thing that applied to me, I just assumed I was straight, 'cause why wouldn't I be?^ And all through college, I thought my peers were choosing to enter sexual and romantic relationships, under the pressure of cultural norms. And, on the flip-side, I *thought* I was making the conscious choice not to -- simply because I found all the other things to do at college much more interesting. I can totally see Sherlock making the same assumptions, and concluding that sex and romance dims your wits ('cause look at how often those relationships fail, and how much hurt they cause when they do). ^(Also, looking back and noticing clues, realizing that my *parents* were each on the ace spectrum, too. And they were my role models for what "Straight" looked like; Mom proposed to Dad by saying: "If we got married, we could co-sign on a mortgage. And if we got a house, we could have CATS." Also, I'm an only child....).

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

To be honest, that's the best reason I ever heard to get married.

[@CapriUni]

@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 My dad agreed. 😉

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

Honestly your parents kinda have the right idea there lol

[@audreyraj5626]

I’m also aroace and I remember being about 10 and sitting in a circle with my best friends at the time talking about who our crushes were. At this point in my life, I thought a crush was someone you thought was aesthetically beautiful (what I know is aesthetic attraction) or liked as friend (what I know are squishes) and didn’t realise there were romantic and/or sexual connotations. I didn’t have any crushes but had already internalised that I was supposed to be straight because heteronormativity, so I just said I had a crush on my guy best friend. I didn’t like him in that way and eventually learned what a crush actually was, however one of my other friends kept teasing me about how I had a crush on him even after I told her I didn’t.

[@Howdyasdo]

Not gonna lie that would be my perfect marriage

[@sharonoddlyenough]

I never did like the stories shipping Sherlock with Irene Adler. They just never sat well with me.

[@DavidJBradley]

Because they are bad

[@sharonoddlyenough]

@@DavidJBradley and how!

[@sharonoddlyenough]

Btw, the obligatory dress twirl was excellent

[@mystiquesword]

Oh let me guess, you’re a johnlocker 🙄 Sherlock with irene is the best couple & they do have one son in one of the books: nero wolfe. Also asexuality does not mean no sex. It means our attraction is not based on sex & looks. Sherlock attracts to irene cuz she is intelligent like he is. He could not care less what she looks like. Same would go for john for people like you.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

@@mystiquesword No, I have been reading Sherlock Holmes stories since I first started to read. Johnlock is only slightly more appealing than this Irene Adler thing. The BBC Sherlock has so many issues, and Irene Adler is just the last straw for me. It almost an in-name-only adaptation.

[@EddVCR]

As a neurodivergent aro ace, it makes perfect sense why Sherlock Holmes has been my hero since age 7. How you went to describe how Holmes turned his neurodivergence into his strength gave me a lot of courage; all my life I’ve been longing to be neurotypical and not be so different. Thank you; since I won’t ever be able to make them go away, I’ll learn to make them into my strengths!

[@astro_penguin_]

same!

[@austinthesan-antonian3932]

Yeah Sherlock Holmes is very easy to get into for me, too. BBC's Sherlock programme last decade has so many flaws & I do love Hbomberguy's cannon firing it to the cleaners video. But wow does it just so easily when you're aro/ace & ND.

[@vwolf5]

Honestly, I never throught of Sherlock's sexuality...but when someone mentioned that Sherlock was asexual everything clicked, lol.

[@MrRaivokasMagma]

I kept thinking about Hercule Poirot the whole time. But I also think asexual detective stories is a category in crime fiction 😅

[@doctortalisman9861]

hahaha, yes, ace and queercoded detectives are definitely a trope! although honestly a lot of them are just following on from holmes. personally i think hercule poirot's ace/queercoding is really just a function of his "french coding" though, lmao (yes, i know he's belgian but in terms of "coding" he's absolutely french lol)

[@amiefortman7220]

There's a wonderful passage in David Suchet's memoir "Poirot and Me" where he specifically talks about Poirot experiencing romantic attraction, but not sexual attraction. He even sometimes wishes he had gotten married, but he knows that very few women in the world would understand or want to put up with him. I'm aroace myself, but it was so *nice* to hear someone understanding the distinction and articulating that kind of... loneliness you can feel, not because you *want* that kind of relationship, but because you just don't want to feel left out. I think the fact that Holmes and Poirot are two of my favorite fictional characters ever should've clued me into my own asexuality sooner.

[@doctortalisman9861]

@@amiefortman7220 oh, that's really interesting!

[@Kotifilosofi]

Yes, and Miss Marple. She canonically never ended up having long-term relationship and seems just content living by herself, doing her thing. You can say whatever, for me she's aroace 😁

[@ByrdieFae]

So many reasons this video is awesome: 1. Sherlock Hound. 2. Your nails. 3. The whole dang subject of Holmes as aro ace. 4. Watson quacking like a duck.

[@shortinsomniac76]

Sherlock Hound was what convinced me to watch the whole video

[@ankerhedemand5918]

That was sherlock bones, sherlock hound is a completely unrelated manga about the great detective being Reincarnated as a dog. No I'm not making this up.

[@unfortunatelyevil1767]

5. The tippytaps during the ending spin~

[@kimywolf277]

6. that gorgeous purple skirt

[@legendswarble2845]

"Yarr, he's bi-homicidal." Why did this feel like a Foxy line?

[@merrymermaid]

hello fellow fnaf fan👩🏼‍💻

[@krasmazov1959]

like he "writes" both children and adults?

[@KYLE1654-v7m]

@@krasmazov1959 Yes!

[@sum2857]

I interpret specifically the BBC series Holmes as aromantic gay, the canon book version is very much aroace for me.

[@peckgardner]

yeah same. kinda makes me mad when moftiss said sherlock being gay is not the story they wanted to tell cause that's clearly what they have told us. but yeah in the BBC version the gay is showing but in the books Sherlock doesn't really show love for anyone except for watson so him being aroace and having platonic love for watson seems like the most reasonable thing

[@justsomerandomname2067]

why do you interprit the bbc sherlock as aro gay? as a big fan, i never saw it that way, so im curious

[@peckgardner]

@@justsomerandomname2067 I recommend you watch Tjlc explained video 'sherlock is gay', there is a lot of content there but also I think because John is his pressure point and the way he looks at him and the things he had done for that man are definitely not very straight

[@sum2857]

@@justsomerandomname2067 I really see him as disastrously attracted to John (mainly because of fanmade edits :D). I interpret his lack of understanding for romance and thinking of sexual attraction as much more reasonable as being alloaro. Also i kind of project myself onto one of my first kins ;D

[@mystiquesword]

Umm not sure how the books would make sherlock aro ace when he is in fact hetro-romantic asexual in the books, seeing as how he & irene have one son: nero wolf. Also, on film, irene is almost always shown as someone into bdsm & according to the aven website, a lot of aces tend to gravitate towards that. A very common but wrong misconception about asexuality is that we cant love & cant have sex. Neither is true. We love just fine & allow sex in certain situations we are comfortable with. (Also bdsm is not necessarily penetrative sex & virgins can do it.) It is how we attract that makes us ace. We wont jump on you cuz you are hot. We dont see or care about hotness. We do see beauty & acknowledge it but it wont make us want you. We attract to intellect, not physical appearance which is exactly what happens with sherlock & irene.

[@stephenstrange4245]

It makes me so happy that you leaned heavily on Granada Holmes. I watched the whole series this past summer and I can't tell you how instantly and deeply I made a connection with Jeremy Brett's portrayal. Like you said, the character may not have been explicitly written aroace but my heart knows it to be so.

[@ihavelemonade5640]

4:42 well, we didn't have a word for gravity before the 1620's. That doesn't mean it didn't exist before then

[@squashfei8907]

Thank you so much for this. I agree with everything, Sherlock is aroace and in a QPR with Watson, and Irene Adler has been mishandled in a lot of adaptations. I love queer reading of Sherlock Holmes and I love your channel. Also yay skirt go twirl One year later edit: ok I still love the aroace reading of Sherlock, but after reading this blog post/article I realized there’s also a lot of gay references in the books that I missed. They’re very subtle and specific to the Victorian era, but it’s stuff like mentioning that they go to bathhouses aka gay sex buildings, and that they left London in 1895 which is when a lot of gay people also left due to the Oscar Wilde trial.

[@bylet7123]

the bewildered spite at the Sherlock-Irene Adler shippers is everything

[@youcare_somuch2433]

The BBC adaption of Sherlock will always have a special place in my heart because I was fifteen when I first watched it and became obsessed with it. I’m 21 now and I identify as aroace, an identity I didn’t even know existed when I was fifteen cos it’s NEVER talked about in mainstream culture. It makes me so upset to see how aphobic and homophobic BBC Sherlock is with the knowledge I have now. I always liked fanfiction more than the actual show anyway, though I never shipped Holmes and Watson romantically/sexually as I was a little closeted aroace and I decided that just didn’t fit with how I saw Holmes. I DEFINITELY think Holmes and Watson are in a QPR cos that just sits so well with me and it makes my queer heart happy. And to the people who ship Holmes with a woman????? Wtf is wrong with you??

[@isabelr3467]

rowan ellis and david j bradley putting out videos within like a day of each other we are truly thriving

[@jasonsteele6920]

I mean it's so obvious he's Ace! Also: someone who growls out "Irene Adler" like I do whenever someone brings her up! 🤣

[@lexiibattwitch]

This is great. I always saw Holmes as a BiPolar sufferer who was absolutely Asexual and homoromantic

[@DawnDavidson]

Bipolar could definitely fit. Though I also see the ND stuff, with him doing the cocaine to keep his mind from eating itself out of boredom. As someone with ADHD myself, I definitely get that.

[@lexiibattwitch]

@@DawnDavidson yeah I get both perspectives very much so

[@universal_stupidity]

@@DawnDavidson for your information, being bipolar is actually a neurodivergency, it's not just ADHD and autism and such

[@LilChuunosuke]

I'm so glad I have a reclining desk chair because I was leaning back in my chair in shock at the *ridiculouslness* and *audacity* that the hets had in trying to force this idea that Holmes was a straight man. If they stretched any farther, I think they might pull a muscle!! I'm also so sick of asexual characters in media being depicted as "uninteresting." Like we don't deserve validation because our lack of sexual attraction bores them. It's so disgustingly aphobic and really shows that any queer relationships they even imply are all for attracting the viewers' interest and with zero regard for any people they may hurt. . I personally imagine him to be demi-homoromantic asexual (though I also ADORE the interpretation of them being queer-platonic partners). I genuinely cannot see how there is any room for plausible deniability that Holmes is queer and on the ace spectrum considering the fact that the only person that Holmes seems to show any desire and affection for is Watson and his disinterest and aversion towards women is explicitly spelled out. Also, the timing on this is wonderful. You mentioned how basically everyone has at least one interprertation of Holmes out there that they love. For me, it was the Ace Attorney games that came out this summer. Seeing his interpretation in the games as well as their unique ways of interpreting characters like Inspectors Lestrade & Gregson. And don't get me started on how they portrayed Watson! It was my favorite plot twist in the entire game. Not to mention, the entire series is undeniably queer-coded and attracts queer audiences, so in both canon and fanfiction, I almost never encounter forced heterosexuality. It's actually quite noteworthy when I do because it's so rare. I was honestly disgusted and stunned by your section on Irene Adler. My only exposure to her was in a fanfic where Irene was borderline *disgusted* by Holmes for comedic effect and showed the most affection and respect towards men who respected her independence and did not try to force gender roles or submissiveness onto her. . Also, congrats on aquiring a new gender! You look KILLER in that skirt!

[@dygamma483]

I’ve been obsessed with Sherlock Holmes for years before realising I was aroace - I haven’t read the stories in aeons, but this video was so good I just might read a few again (and by a few, i do mean The three Garridebs)

[@Natilra]

I'm a-spec and autistic, and Holmes was my main role-model as a kid. I even took up violin because that was what Holmes played. Then, the Guy Ritchie films came out and I hated them for what they did with Irene Adler (although Jared Harris as Moriarty is exquisite casting). Then, Sherlock which promised so well at the beginning of the first episode but started to fall apart (in my opinion) when Sherlock monologues about "who hunts in a crowd?" and doesn't come up with cabbie.

[@Loxalair]

Thank you very much for making this, and thank you especially for the long, confused silence at the thought of people shipping Sherlock and Irene. I died laughing for the entire fifteen seconds. I highly recommend watching Elementary though because it actually contains a QPR, even though it isn't referred to as that. Joan and Sherlock often describe themselves as two people who love each other, but there's not a hint of romance in their relationship, and they are definitely the most important people in each other's lives

[@abisnail4888]

Love the skirt and vest combo outfit! :)

[@shreki2057]

You should watch Elementary. Lucy Liu in KILLER suits. Also, it does some interesting things with it all, and most importantly: It's fun.

[@chocokittybo]

The description of QPRs in this video alone is enough for me to send it to someone with whom we have a relationship that is depending on alter romantic, alterous, or platonic.

[@pagano60]

Just for the record, "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" was released in 1970, not 1974.

[@Waddles_The_Penguin]

this is absolutely amazing! i've always seen him like this as a demi-aroace myself. also the dramatic pause at the mention of Sherlock x Irene is the greatest thing! i would also like to point out the in BBC Sherlock, he never fell for Irene, he was faking it.

[@사자토끼]

Okay so I came here because one of my friends said "This is literally you, like this person is your alternate self". I came here without much thought. I'm only 4 minutes in and I'm seriously considering if I have a lost twin. This is literally me on a daily basis 🤣 The silence from 4:03 to 4:13 I'm WHEEZING

[@SimonIris1364]

The BBC Sherlock will always be my favorite. I enjoyed the poke at John's sexuality at first before i realized what queer bating was. I just wanted to point out something from my perspective. I never saw Irene Adler as a lover for Sherlock. I saw him more intrigued in her for her brain and her proclivity to kink. I think Sherlock would be interested in experimenting with kink as he is portrayed as a personality that seeks out the next high or adrenaline rush. I'm that aspect i always saw her as a possible play partner, never in a sexual context.

[@candacen7779]

I think your kink theory fits very well with the Elementary series version of Holmes. He has sexual partners occasionally on that series, but it's clear it's nothing more than an activity to either release energy or to explore a theory. Other than his relationship with Moriarty, he doesn't really express romantic attraction.

[@beccanibi882]

THANK YOU THANK YOU !! First because I'm genuinely tired of Irene Adler's portrayal in modern media, but also because you put words on how I see Holmes and Watson. See, through movies and series I saw Holmes as gay (still do in some cases), but when I read the books I had a decisively different feel. And I was *uncomfortable* with the feel, but thanks to you and other ace creators, I was eventually able to understand that my discomfort was my allo butt struggling to understand asexuality, aromanticism and QPR (which I finally GOT with *this* video) and thus taking a mental shorcut and thinking "but if no sex or romantic love, then this human unfeeling and thus NOT human, no ?????" And I *knew* on a basic level that couldn't be right, but also the amatonormativity is so strong I couldn't imagine anything else so I was just left to mentally wriggle uncomfortably. You got NO idea how *relieved* I am from finally understanding QPR and how it relates to Holmes and Watson in the books. Because that *is* how I interpret them but I didn't know it was even a thing, let alone how to call it, argh !! Sorry for the enthousiasm but it really lifts a weight off my soul, I swear. I'll just add that outside of my galaxy brain moment, this was a delightful video as always and that you look uber cute in that skirt. It really warms my heart to see you living your best life 💛💌💜🖤

[@theliminalist4429]

Ive never been a massive Holmes nerd, but from all the media I have consumed about Sherlock, I always related strongly in this way. A huge part of my fears about my future involve who I will live with, even get married to, but it's hard finding someone else who wants that when the relationship isn't sexual or even very romantic at times.

[@CrazyKungfuGirl]

Maybe we should start referring to ourselves as "consulting detectives"

[@allistair61]

As in a-romantic it is interesting to see characters being interpreted either as a-romantic or asexual. Through media studies, I'm aware of slash & fem-slash fan fiction, I'm hoping to see more representation of a-romanticism in popular culture.

[@FriendlyKitten]

Very excited for this deep dive! Thank you as always for the stunning and informative work you do

[@jbach1738]

Just a little note on something you missed in the original stories. Watson's wife did die. It was just a few sentences at the beginning of one of the stories. Watson is depressed because of the death of his wife and has moved back into Baker street. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one. I'll try to find it and let you know. This is the first of your videos that I have seen, and I absolutely loved it. Everything you said, and using the original canon as evidence, is exactly my constant argument for Holmes being AroAce. It has always been my argument that Holmes was obviously written this way from the start, and people constantly forcing the idea of him falling in love with a woman, or being gay, is nothing more than Ace erasure. They may not have had the vocabulary to give it a specific title in the time when Doyle was writing the stories, but he made it quite clear in his description. I really enjoyed this quite a lot, and I am going to move straight on to another one of your videos. You have a new subscriber here. Well done.

[@alyssafitzgerald83]

I think that Elementary’s Sherlock is somewhere on the aro spectrum, but has a high libido and thus engages in casual sex to purge himself of it/find out first hand the logistics of some of the things humans will get up to. He and Joan Watson though are 100% in a qpr, at the end she decides to have adopted a kid and his basic reaction is “I don’t want to be his dad with all that entails, but I will treat him as the youngest member of our family because you are family to me and you really want to be a mom.” Which is very wholesome to me. Plus the whole thing with Irene being Moriarty helps show that his attraction to her is actually based on desiring someone on his own level in intellect, and the sex was something she threw in to manipulate him. I’m pretty sure their first meeting chronologically had them play a game of wits, and as the winner he chose to continue talking with her as his prize instead of having sex, as would be the usual thing for this kind of relationship backstory in tv. She later suggests sex which he agrees to. Irene/Moriarty clouds his judgment because of the boxes he puts the two identities into. There’s a small thing he has going on for a while with a fellow neurodivergent person, a programmer, for a short period of time, and it’s made equally clear there that it is her mind that is what attracted him. So my reading of the character in that series is that he’s: Gray-romantic, sex favorable, with a high libido.

[@Eruvadhril]

My favourite Holmes adaptation by far is the Bert Coules radio series. It holds the distinction of being the only series in which every story was performed by the same Holmes and Watson actors. There are loads of really great domestic scenes between the two of them, Irene Adler is done perfectly (including actually giving her an American accent), and I love what they did with the framing of The Lion's Mane.

[@emmaoof3335]

i always loved elementarys take on sherlock (tho id argue hes more represented as aromantic rather than asexual in that adaptation) he and joan develop a very clear domestic partnership with no romantic feelings for one another but rather a deep closeness and connection between the two the story never once presents the relationship in a romantic light but never presents it as “less than” (id argue their platonic relationship is more often presented as taking precedent over romantic ones!) they are the closest ive seen to a true portrayal of a qpr in mainstream media

[@s-e-e-k-i-n-g]

4:13 got me so good I've been choking for the last 15 seconds

[@reginleif6703]

When I first read Sherlock Homes, way back in the day, one of the things I really liked was the lack of a love interest for him. I adored the fact it focused on whatever the heck Holmes and Watson had going on. I wanted more stories like that and was always disappointed when I couldn't find them. It took a long time to figure out Holmes and I weren't broken.

[@dawn8293]

Moffat's implication that asexuality can't be an interesting trait in a fictional character is infuriating. It erases the struggles that asexual people have in their life, and even erases the novelty an allosexual might feel when seeing a new way of thinking and existing that they have never considered before. People treat asexuality like it is a lack of an experience, but in a culture with so much talk of sex, it's an active experience to walk your own way.

[@SouthPark333Gaming]

Your impression of Steven Moffat is genius. He did something similar to Doctor Who (alongside Russel T Davis and that awful 1996 movie)

[@jokertarian]

cant wait for this video ‘cause yes.

[@jeannecaelum5167]

Hes my neurodiverse and ace icon. Glad he gives me the confindence I need! I wish more adaptations nowadays would take the ace part and run with it and make it even better.

[@majorblehmoment]

I'm aromantic demisexual, I'm in multiple queer platonic relationships I was not expecting you to say that Watson and Sherlock were in one, though unlabeled. It surprised me so much because I often have to explain it to people, was not expecting it to be explained to me :D

[@cmmosher8035]

Talking about Moffat, as a kid i always read the Doctor as ace in the original series and though well i didn't have the language to describe it, it always felt out of character when Davies and Moffat tried to put romance into Doctor Who.

[@ryumanjisen3494]

Wait, what? I don't want to, by any means, to diminish the importance of this fantastic video essay. But people really need to tell them that Holmes is asexual? You only need to read the canon stories, and it will be PRETTY clear. In any case, thank you for the video, I've really enjoyed it.

[@mystak3n]

Truly an ace detective

[@emmawilson4526]

you give moffat too much credit by making him pirate "captain"

[@Nixahma]

Don't forget Herlock Sholmes, the copyright free adhd himbo version from The Great Ace Attorney.

[@LittleMissTotoro]

I love the Sherlock Holmes stories. I have read them, heard the audio dramatisations, and seen many adaptations (love the Jeremy Brett ones the most). One of the reasons I like it so much might be that he does seem very Ace. And I saw myself in that as a kid, without identifying why. Also, many of the stories opens with a sensible young woman who has collected good, thorough data that is relayed in a calm and Scientific manner, perfect for Holmes' skills, and they actively appreciate her for it. It always made me think of how I would collect data and present it, in case I needed their help. I am now a Scientist! The Solitary Cyclist is a particularly good example.

[@bobguy3939]

Just had a viagra advert before this video...

[@Nelchihaak]

Watching you talk about QPRs wearing that skirt made me think that there's an unexpected similarity between how QPRs are to romantic relationships and how nonbinary gender is to binary gender. There's a lot of variation in each, but one thing they both most certainly are is about breaking expected norms.

[@QuestingRefuge]

Wow one more thing about the recent adaptations that is frustrating! Thank you for this, not knowing history of Sherlock well this was incredibly interesting.

[@dalek_4252]

oh i cann't wait

[@redblaquegolden]

Fascinating! You've done it again. I'll be honest and vulnerable, I have the HARDEST TIME trying to view the world through an ace (or aro) lens. I want to, but it's like...so hard to undo that particular bit of social programming as a sexual (and romantic) person. I love and support ace people and I appreciate your content as it helps me get that little bit closer to actually hopefully understanding! Also, full on, a QPR sounds MAGICALLY wonderful to me. I'd love to be in a QPR.

[@jdprettynails]

Honestly? I love all interpretations of Sherlock Holmes. I generally thought of him as ace initially (especially after BBC Sherlock's first episode with the lines "Not my area" and "Everything else is just transport") But I also really enjoy the flamboyantly gay fan readings of "Sherlock Holmes" via Basil the Great Mouse Detective and Herlock Sholmes in the Great Ace Attorney games. As a bisexual woman, I even enjoy a little bit of Irene shipping from time to time. Especially the BBC Sherlock Irene Adler. That could just be more me shipping MYSELF with Irene Adler though.... Edit: I really love the dynamic between RDJ and Jude Law's Holmes and Watson especially. I just really love "And wear a jacket!" "YOU wear a jacket!" It sounds exactly how my fiancé and I speak to each other and it makes us giggle every time! Edit 2: Oh wow....that Steven Moffat impression is fucking amazing!!

[@Chocobo0Scribe]

Sherlock finds the times where there’s nothing to do exhausting…wait…this…I’ve experienced it. ADHD?

[@liamattivissimo6288]

I STAYED FOR THE SPINNY AND IT WAS AMAZING

[@acesuomi]

I'm SOOOOOO exited for this video, cuz a huge Sherlock Holmes fan!!!! Edit: I love both the Sherlock Holmes outfit and the outfit with the skirt :D Edit: I really enjoyed this video! Just amazing! 😍😍😍😍

[@mik5136]

Fwiw, I really recommend watching Elementary if you ever do have a lot of time on your hands! It doesn't have ace Holmes but iirc he's arospec ish and Nd coded in fun rather than bad ways, and their Holmes and Watson have very very good QPR energy

[@candacen7779]

Agreed. It's definitely worth bingeing. As a lover of Holmes' stories as a kid, I think the writers did a great job of adapting him to a new environment and era while staying true to the character overall.

[@afrox]

oh! everything i love! can't wait!

[@PTDuckie]

Great video man. Never thought about Sherlock in this light but yeah, it does make sense. That being said, I got one video nick-pick and it's not about the topic. I know you like using the ace colors for your video writing, but I really suggest depending on what background or costume you are wearing, make sure the colors you are using doesn't drown out. There were places where the purple and blues just blended into the background colors where I couldn't read them. A great suggestion I was told when doing PowerPoints is distance check. Check from a distance if the writing is still readable against the background. If not, pick another color. I enjoy the way you do your videos but small stuff like that can be a bit distracting when you are trying to keep up but can't read the descriptions or jokes you make.

[@Melissa_939]

Only recently got into Sherlock Holmes via the Letters from Watson project, and yet, aroace icon. Thank you David for such a comprehensive, entertaining and well-researched video! Also love your outfit

[@miiiwu1999]

As someone in a queerplatonic relationship I’d love a video just on your qpr headcanons :p

[@atossamasumpour6834]

I LOVE the spinnnnn

[@les5503]

Great video, I couldn't keep watching Sherlock after they screwed up Irene Adler's character so bad. I didn't even know I was queer at the time, I just hated they dynamic they set up between her and Sherlock. Also, the color of that skirt really suits you.

[@wisbrington1559]

great video mate

[@HallyVee]

MIYAZAKI DID SHERLOCK!!!

[@LatheOfChaos]

Happy birthday David!!!

[@invisible__design657]

omg!!! sherlock holmes was my favorite thing when i was a tween and i identified as aro/ace

[@justsomerandomname2067]

as a cishet person - this video was great and completely agree (as a bbc sherlock fan - what theyve done with irene adler is disappointing and sad)

[@thepip3599]

I love your outfit!

[@LeJimothy]

I have only ever read Holmes as aro ace, long long long before I figured out I was too. It's just *there* in the text.

[@kellabdjfoo]

i love your vids sm

[@RainyBat]

I didn't know about QPRs, this explains a lot, thanks.

[@ceasinghornet40d40]

ok but can I say your outfit is dope as hell 100/10

[@noahsolomon1550]

Loving the skirt, my friend

[@rozieredz]

I have a question for fellow ace literary analysts. It's mentioned in the video that people who can't view other people or characters outside of their own perspective tend to create straightwashed versions of queer characters. I've noticed, however, that I do that myself - I tend to assume a character is asexual, like myself, unless and until proven otherwise. As an aspiring writer, I've determined that I want to be known for writing asexual characters and have that be a relative norm for my writing, partially for the representation aspect, and partially for my own enjoyment as a writer in what I write. But is that tendency of mine, to unconsciously assume characters are asexual until proven allo, a potential problem? It's not as though every single one of my characters will be ace/aro, or ace in the same way I am.

[@coinsilver3]

My favorite animated version is sh22. Quite faithfull yet different.

[@ttwilight_dragon]

I was thought of Sherlock as Ace gay as me since i see myself a lot in him, but i think your argument about he being aro too is very good and compeling. I watched the bbc Sherlock and quite liked it even though i knew it was queer baiting, but i just couldn't keeping watching after irene and watson's marriage. I don't know if it was on purpose or by accident, but both happening very near one another if felt like te show was washing their hand from the "gayness" and trying to show that their show is perfectly straight

[@maplepainttube8158]

For a moment I thought you were implying that Watson married Irene, and honestly if there was an adaptation that combined the sign of 4 and a scandal in Bohemia that ended with Sherlock getting outsmarted by Irene and she runs off with Watson, adding insult to injury, that would be waaaay better than 99% of the interpretations of her character.

[@riirah1010]

PREACH

[@captain1697]

Just gotta say-great video essay. I’m gonna take this opinion to the grave

[@FxdGearQueer]

Thank you! I love Elementary, but the Irene Adler thing always felt weird and out of place there. Now I know why.

[@lloroshastar6347]

On the subject of TV and movie writers sexualising ace/aro or coded ace/aro characters; Whilst there is certainly an element of heteronormativity in these works, I think it is also worth baring in mind that it doesn't always come from a place of wanting to normalise sex, sexual activity and romance in these characters. Sometimes it's born out of how anti-sex and anti-romance a lot of Conservative lawmakers and media spokespersons once were. Take Mary Whitehouse for example, she would have more than approved of the apparent asexual or aromantic portrayal of the Doctor or Sherlock Holmes, though she could never be viewed as an ally. She was fervently Anti-LGBTQ+. I'm not saying that rewriting such characters as sexual or romantic is always a good thing, just that it doesn't always come from a place of asexual or aromantic erasure.

[@donaldduck3888]

I absolutely adore your skirt.

[@danielatkinson9177]

This is off topic a bit, but you ROCK that dress

[@elfosexy]

this was eye-opening and super entertaining. it seems relating to sherlock holmes is almost aroace culture at this point

[@grimmm421]

sherlock lowkey krobus stardew valley ngl

[@Ireallywouldrathernot]

The original Irene Adler story is absolutely feminist (not talking about intentions here, I don't know about those. Death of the Author). She outsmarts a misogynist super genius and then goes about her life as she was planning to do anyway.

[@bevinbrand4637]

Agreed! Haven't liked any other interpretation of her, frankly.

[@maplepainttube8158]

Ok, idea for new modern adaptation of alder. Have the plot, honestly it could remain very similar. I can see how maybe in the context of modern royalty or modern politics the kings(or someone else) and Adler's relationship as a theater star could bring about scrutiny or gossip that could disrupts the guy's potential engagement when it's within the sphere of politics, especially royalty. You might need to tweak a couple of things to make the controversy a bit more believable, but if things are tweaked, it's important that Irene should not be in the wrong for having that relationship and then desiring to not have the photos stolen from her, but you need to make sure that the king character isn't also so unlikable that you wonder why Holmes and Watson would agree to help him in the first place (the king can/should be a little unlikable though). Basically the rest of the plot can remain basically identical. maybe the photos are on a usb, and maybe the hidden compartment isn't the fireplace, or maybe it is, idk. But the rest can play out the same right down to sherlock holmes underestimating her due to sexism, because even if a modern sherlock holmes is a bit more open minded about men and women being equal, sexisim is still alive and well and it only takes a glance at how media treats certain female entertainers to understand why sherlock would think he could easily outsmart a female actress. Now here's the fun bit. You could either let that remain her only appearance, or post mystery, maybe Irene, having retired from acting like in the original story, could take up detective work herself. Let her be successful because of how well she understands people, a skill she picked up while studying characters as an actress. Let her be smart, let her be successful, and let one of her cases collide with one of sherlock's cases so they can but heads again. Let this happen multiple times, win some, lose some. Let her be a rivals on the same side of the law in contrast to the arch nemesis Moriarty is. Let sherlock's ego occasionally get the better of him. Then let them have a mystery where they have to work together because neither could solve it on their own. Let each show off their unique skills. Let there be a character arc where he finally let's go of his ego of being outwitted by her. Let sherlock stop calling her the woman and instead call her a friend.

[@Alina_Schmidt]

@@selfcompassionate That‘s the myth of the west who imagines that progress automatically comes in a linear time. The world is more complicated than that. In reality, feminism comes from acting feminist. I like that idea of Irene Adlers story arch.

[@sreyarthakrishna6195]

@@maplepainttube8158 You clearly have too much creativity for Hollywood.

[@sreyarthakrishna6195]

Exactly! And it just goes to show what a narrow definition of Feminism Hollywood writers have to go "Well, she's a woman who just wants to live her own life, not bothering anyone else, and chooses to marry a man she probably likes quite a lot. There isn't anything that could *possibly* be feminist about that. "I know what would make this better. Let's just sexualise the hell out of her instead and make her outsmart the hero with her sexuality rather than her wits. So much more empowering. You can't spell Feminism without T&A."

[@Crowley9]

"Asexuals didn't exist back then, did they?" Me: _glances at dozens of famous philosophers over millennia going "This sex stuff doesn't really do anything for me."_

[@rosschmankerl3244]

People misinterpreting Holmes' admiration for Irene Adler kind of plays into the, uh, aphobic trope of "maybe you haven't met the right person yet": Holmes obviously just never met his right person, but Adler, who is his intellectual equal, MUST be his right person because romantic love is the "ultimate feeling" and trumps all or something. (Also, she was getting married? Do these people care that she has a whole ass husband in the original? No? okay... I mean, since they forgot she was a lesbian in their own adaptation, what can you expect lol) Genuine, platonic admiration and platonic love feel so... undervalued, sometimes even within the wider queer community (not the aro/ace community, obviously

[@sreyarthakrishna6195]

That is so true! Aphobia turned into a cinematic trope. As a comment I saw on Reddit put it: I love filmmakers looking at an entire sexuality and going "You know what this needs? Character development."

[@KyleRayner12]

Moffat also wrote a lesbian who falls in love with his super-cool main character into his run on Doctor Who. It's almost as if he has no respect for *any* form of queerness...

[@anothercarttogo1819]

It is kind of sad, amatonormativity, it ruins everything; relationships and how you view and experience them, yeah, but also how you enjoy any fictional media. Hell, despite unlearning as much as I could of amatonormativity once I realized that I'm aroallo, and being a lot more aware of it and seeing signs of it everywhere, I still sometimes struggle with it when it comes to consuming media. I romantically ship characters a lot, which in of itself is not bad nor amatonormative at all, but I sometimes accidentally still devalue platonic relations by believing that they *have* to be romantic; not a lot mind you, but it still happens with me. Like, for example, if I ship Legolas and Gimli from LoTR romantically together, that's fine, but if I think that pure platonic interpretations of their relationship, or familial interpretations or queerplatonic interpretations, are not on equal footing to the romantic interpretation (despite the fact that usually I see relationships that are platonic, familial, or queerplatonic as having more emotional value) then it's a problem. Luckily, I don't do this as much anymore, but I still catch myself doing it and I hate it.

[@bro-rm5xo]

Holmes and Watson having a queerplatonic or homoromantic relationship is one of my fav ships Amazing vid

[@rowanwax]

I have “come out” as asexual on my social media accounts every Valentines day… and people still think I am allosexual. (Not counting the non v days I remind ppl). There is def. A straight agenda, haha.

[@KYLE1654-v7m]

I really hate how people always assumed your Allosexual by default.

[@noahsolomon1550]

I am aroace and valentine's day In my opinion was isolated form the original christian context

[@Alina_Schmidt]

@@noahsolomon1550 „original christian context“? I‘m not so sure about that. Kat Blaque has an old video about the history of valentine‘s day and it wasn‘t about christianity …

[@angeloliver7613]

Since most people are allo, it's kinda given that they assume a person is allo. It is however incredible rude to dismiss a person's sexuality who has already stated they're aro/ace.

[@KYLE1654-v7m]

@@angeloliver7613 Why assume?! It's stupid to think you know a person that way.

[@probsnooneyouknowtbh3712]

Only people who read the original stories will get this, but: Reading these stories as a kid is what caused me to ask my mom, "what does 'ejaculate' mean?" And she was like "um... in what context?" So I read the sentence I had just read it in out loud to her and she was like "OH. It means the same thing as 'exclaim.'" Only later did I realize what an awkward/humorous question that was and I don't know how she didn't burst out laughing hearing a child ask that LMAO

[@crystaljiang5976]

oh wow I did that exact thing, glad to know I'm not alone lol

[@probsnooneyouknowtbh3712]

@@crystaljiang5976 It's so funny looking back on it 😄 The questions our parents have to answer...

[@TeamVampireHunterD]

Ok, nice reference with the cactus brooch! I've had to use that analogy once on a straight male who took my disinterest in his self-described "legendary" bedroom skills VERY personally. Unless said bedroom skills are relegated to speed-folding laundry and making perfect mitered hospital corners on a bedspread, I'd rather attempt to bathe enraged cats while blindfolded.

[@Logitah]

Holmes is an old friend of mine. He kept me company during my time as a lonely, asexual teen. I am also autistic, which made him even more relatable to me. Going to the Sherlock Holmes Museum made him feel all more real.

[@SH-zh8eh]

I'm happily ready to join in with you in that mate.

[@astro_penguin_]

"Holmes is an old friend of mine" - yeah, me too "lonely, asexual teen" - same tho "also autistic" - ok now i'm convinced we're actually secretly the same person.

[@Logitah]

@@astro_penguin_ Hohoho! Perhaps! 😄

[@ghelik1890]

Are you telling me we could have been calling ourselves Anesthesia Sexuals the entire time?

[@Pencliff]

Honestly, Ace Sherlock feels like it makes the most sense out of any reading to me.

[@phoenixwrites7181]

“And I’ve just upgraded my gender!” Me too, friend, me too. And I swear to God if I have to see one more person try to force people to ignore asexual/aromantic subtext in fiction I WILL riot.

[@popplejam2128]

different piece of fiction, but i saw someone say “saiki k isn’t ace, he has xray vision so he can’t see people properly and always sees naked bodies and therefore hasn’t felt attraction yet”. according to this person: all blind people, doctors, and people who work at nude beaches or whatever, cannot feel attraction. adds up.

[@TobiasFangorIsntCis]

“It came with a skirt!” delights me to no end