john in the unaired pilot: “openly” bisexual (aka doesn’t seem to struggle with it, much more at ease with his sexuality)
john in a study in pink: closeted bisexual
this is the exact same scene aka john asking sherlock if he has a girlfriend. note how differently john acts: in the unaired pilot, john doesn’t look away and says with confidence “so you don’t have a girlfriend then”. he’s not even asking, he just wants to be sure because sherlock acts and seems more gay than heterosexual.
in asip, john can’t hold his stare, he looks up, looks down while eating (so the question can seem innocent enough). here, he seems more uncertain, tries to make it a polite conversation (whereas in the unaired pilot john doesn’t even really pretend: he’s calmer, more at ease but his goal stays the same)
i just love also how john is dressed up differently in the unaired pilot and asip: i love how john in the pilot doesn’t button his shirt all the way and we clearly see his t-shirt whereas in the show john’s fashion style is much more… i’d say severe (he usually buttons his shirts all way up), more practical.
his clothes are his armour, he protects his throat and neck when john in the unaired pilot doesn’t: his weakness is not a weakness, what seems intimate is shown to the world but we never see john in the show this way (for now)