My favorite fanon for Doctor Who is that the "great man, a hero to many" that River kills is Jesus. *nods*
Consider me firmly aboard this crazy train!
Since it's never explicitly stated in ACD's stories or Sherlock, I wouldn't say that Sherlock being asexual is precisely canon, but there are plenty of things that suggest it.
So few things actually are explicityly stated, but you're right: if Moffat and Gatiss decided to make Sherlock a pansexual playboy in secret, they have room to do so. As for the ACD canon: asexuality didn't exist as an identity when he was writing it, so I wouldn't expect any explicit statements--but Watson's observations, and Holmes's behavior, are easily extrapolated to 'asexual'. I don't know: I'm not particularly attached to the identity, but for my own part, I don't enjoy the idea of Holmes in any sort of romantic relationship!
Sociopath may not be exactly right, but I can see where they were going with the line: Sherlock doesn't experience human emotions/empathy the same way other people do. Putting himself in other people's shoes is an intellectual, rather than an emotional exercise. He may not be a certifiable sociopath, but I can see the convenience of that description.
As for Doctor Who breaking canon: I've had to give up on expecting them to follow the rules. And it's not just Moffat that's done it: remember "you can't travel between parallel worlds" (despite the half dozen times they did it), and "Rose is gone forever, no, PSYCH, she's back!"?
I'm able to view things like pastiches and different versions of movies/series as outside canon. Certain franchises, especially in sci-fi, have a shit TON of 'extra' source material, and it would be impossible to try to incorporate it all into a consistent canon.
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Date: 2011-05-26 03:10 pm (UTC)Consider me firmly aboard this crazy train!
Since it's never explicitly stated in ACD's stories or Sherlock, I wouldn't say that Sherlock being asexual is precisely canon, but there are plenty of things that suggest it.
So few things actually are explicityly stated, but you're right: if Moffat and Gatiss decided to make Sherlock a pansexual playboy in secret, they have room to do so. As for the ACD canon: asexuality didn't exist as an identity when he was writing it, so I wouldn't expect any explicit statements--but Watson's observations, and Holmes's behavior, are easily extrapolated to 'asexual'. I don't know: I'm not particularly attached to the identity, but for my own part, I don't enjoy the idea of Holmes in any sort of romantic relationship!
Sociopath may not be exactly right, but I can see where they were going with the line: Sherlock doesn't experience human emotions/empathy the same way other people do. Putting himself in other people's shoes is an intellectual, rather than an emotional exercise. He may not be a certifiable sociopath, but I can see the convenience of that description.
As for Doctor Who breaking canon: I've had to give up on expecting them to follow the rules. And it's not just Moffat that's done it: remember "you can't travel between parallel worlds" (despite the half dozen times they did it), and "Rose is gone forever, no, PSYCH, she's back!"?
I'm able to view things like pastiches and different versions of movies/series as outside canon. Certain franchises, especially in sci-fi, have a shit TON of 'extra' source material, and it would be impossible to try to incorporate it all into a consistent canon.