I think the truth of the matter was somewhere in between yes and not.
The fact the story ends with Watson remarking that Holmes will continue to refer to Irene Adler as 'THE woman' for all his life, it means Holmes, however cerebral and somewhat mysoginic, accepted Irene Adler as his ideal woman and as the one woman he could consider an equal.
Holmes is so focused on his cult of rationality that he seems almost repulsed by excesses of emotion - in a sense, he acts like he considers them beneath him- so I believe he was more than a little repressed when it came to embrace or accept his emotional side.
Irene, on her side, had an attitude both similiar and opposite to Holmes - she relied on her charm to rise above the limitations of her status as a woman but she seemed to also enjoy to best others with her intilligence.
So Irene and Holmes are the same brand of egotistic and they find an enjoyable challenge in each other, appearing like they apprecciate play each other off while esteeeming each other as equals.
I think they both recognized that, under different circumstances, they could have been 'it' for each other, but as they both preferred to stay in control, they weren't all that resentful of missing that chance.
And ... this is the part where I remember that the one Conan fic I ever wrote, I brought up the Ai/Irene/Shinichi/Holmes joyously.
I love that fic (Lover's Path). It's one of the few one-shots I reread over and over again, along with June's "Fifty Pills" and SN's "Modus Operandi." It's one of the few fics that put Shinichi and Ai into a rather unexpected situation while keeping them as in-character as possible. And it was so extremely well-written, too. Most people can't write love scenes without making them really corny or repulsive. I wish somebody would turn it into a doujinshi.
(The Irene Adler comparison was brought up in Encounter (old version) as well, though in a completely different context. It's actually the reason why I'm asking this question about Holmes and Adler.)
When it comes to Adler, I've always wondered whether Holmes, no matter how repressed he was, realized that he did feel a sentimental attachment to her memory when he asked for that photograph.
By the way, while many people hated the modern version of Irene Adler in the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes movie, I actually really liked her (except for the fact that they made her work for Moriarty, which undermined her independence and her genius). She had this mischievous and adventurous edge I like although she didn't have the original Irene Adler's poise and enigma.
Thank you for the grand compliment to my fic (I am still surprised I actually went into such darkish/decadent territory with that one). It means a lot coming from you as you know how much I adore your stories. In fact, I'll be very curious to see how you frame your parallels, altough I have a feeling it fits well with the noir-like mood and the 'trick' Shiho pulled with her disappeareance.
Back on the Holmes /Adler original duo, I think he realized that Irene was as close to romantic attachment he was going to get... something like 'If there's someone he would have considered worthy giving in and debasing himself, it was going to be her '. And I also think he kept the picture because she was the one person he met that he perceived as 'cut from the same cloth' than him, which is no minor consideration.
Watson idealizes Holmes, pretty much acts like the man was the ephitome of Pure-unhindered-rationality, more symbol/idol than man... but Holmes was a man and however little he talked about feelings (considering even that in that timeframe, feelings weren't a virile thing) he had them.
At the very least, I would guess that Holmes had a fascination with Irene- he admired her mind and if he rose her in his hthoughts to symbol of desirable feminity (with the THE-woman-referencing ) then he was aware of her sexual attractiveness as well. The way the story is told makes it apparent that Holmes had originally little consideration for women in general but his meeting with Irene twists his mindset enough to have him to reconsider a little- again, no little accomplishment on Irene's count.
Do those things sum up to love? Maybe, maybe not quite, but I would say Holmes was enough selfaware to recognize he was attracted to her.
And I thought the Guy Richie version of Irene was spunky and softer than her original version but I quite liked her.
I wonder whether the dark and decadent quality of that fic is the one that makes me reread it so often. *shot. XD They did things they would never do in Gosho's universe and yet everything seemed so natural in the universe of the fic. I thought the ending was hilarious, too, how she simply let him stand in front of the door while he was completely stupefied. XD I was sad for poor Agasa, though (SN likes to kill him off as well).
One thing I've wondered while reading that story was: Is sixteen actually underage to have a sexual relationship in Japan? XD
Yes, the Irene in Guy Richie's version was a completely different interpretation of Irene, which is one of the reasons I liked her.
I herein confess my secret opinion about Gosho's Shinichi: he sticks to Ran, a childhood friend, because that's an attachment he formed before his cult of hyperationality, when he was a child and therefore still 'open'/more aware of his feelings. As a teenager, he was instead fully 'directed' toward alduthood's world and utterly oblivious to the other sex, Ran included most of time, which all comes back to Shinichi cutting off his istictual self. I don't think Gosho is interested in developing his character past that stage, but in order to have Shinichi suddenly aware that he was capable of a deeper level of connection in romantic relationships, I had to break him open, hence the decadent mood of the story.
As for sixteen being underage in Japan... I think it is, but I am not Japanese so probably I cannot be sure.
The fact the story ends with Watson remarking that Holmes will continue to refer to Irene Adler as 'THE woman' for all his life, it means Holmes, however cerebral and somewhat mysoginic, accepted Irene Adler as his ideal woman and as the one woman he could consider an equal.
Holmes is so focused on his cult of rationality that he seems almost repulsed by excesses of emotion - in a sense, he acts like he considers them beneath him- so I believe he was more than a little repressed when it came to embrace or accept his emotional side.
Irene, on her side, had an attitude both similiar and opposite to Holmes - she relied on her charm to rise above the limitations of her status as a woman but she seemed to also enjoy to best others with her intilligence.
So Irene and Holmes are the same brand of egotistic and they find an enjoyable challenge in each other, appearing like they apprecciate play each other off while esteeeming each other as equals.
I think they both recognized that, under different circumstances, they could have been 'it' for each other, but as they both preferred to stay in control, they weren't all that resentful of missing that chance.
And ... this is the part where I remember that the one Conan fic I ever wrote, I brought up the Ai/Irene/Shinichi/Holmes joyously.
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(The Irene Adler comparison was brought up in Encounter (old version) as well, though in a completely different context. It's actually the reason why I'm asking this question about Holmes and Adler.)
When it comes to Adler, I've always wondered whether Holmes, no matter how repressed he was, realized that he did feel a sentimental attachment to her memory when he asked for that photograph.
By the way, while many people hated the modern version of Irene Adler in the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes movie, I actually really liked her (except for the fact that they made her work for Moriarty, which undermined her independence and her genius). She had this mischievous and adventurous edge I like although she didn't have the original Irene Adler's poise and enigma.
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Back on the Holmes /Adler original duo, I think he realized that Irene was as close to romantic attachment he was going to get... something like 'If there's someone he would have considered worthy giving in and debasing himself, it was going to be her '. And I also think he kept the picture because she was the one person he met that he perceived as 'cut from the same cloth' than him, which is no minor consideration.
Watson idealizes Holmes, pretty much acts like the man was the ephitome of Pure-unhindered-rationality, more symbol/idol than man...
but Holmes was a man and however little he talked about feelings (considering even that in that timeframe, feelings weren't a virile thing) he had them.
At the very least, I would guess that Holmes had a fascination with Irene- he admired her mind and if he rose her in his hthoughts to symbol of desirable feminity (with the THE-woman-referencing ) then he was aware of her sexual attractiveness as well. The way the story is told makes it apparent that Holmes had originally little consideration for women in general but his meeting with Irene twists his mindset enough to have him to reconsider a little- again, no little accomplishment on Irene's count.
Do those things sum up to love? Maybe, maybe not quite, but I would say Holmes was enough selfaware to recognize he was attracted to her.
And I thought the Guy Richie version of Irene was spunky and softer than her original version but I quite liked her.
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One thing I've wondered while reading that story was: Is sixteen actually underage to have a sexual relationship in Japan? XD
Yes, the Irene in Guy Richie's version was a completely different interpretation of Irene, which is one of the reasons I liked her.
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I don't think Gosho is interested in developing his character past that stage, but in order to have Shinichi suddenly aware that he was capable of a deeper level of connection in romantic relationships, I had to break him open, hence the decadent mood of the story.
As for sixteen being underage in Japan... I think it is, but I am not Japanese so probably I cannot be sure.
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Haha, I have that feeling about Shinichi as well, just as Heiji. (Although it's even worse with Heiji.) They are both focussed on their mysteries.
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